FROM    THE   LIBRARY   OF 

REV.    LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON.   D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED   BY   HIM   TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY 


Sectfon        ?7^c2e? 


23  1932 


PRACTICAL  HYMNOLOGY 


^OCnVl  SEtA^ 


BY  ^u' ' 
HUBERT  McNeill  POTEAT,  M.A.,  PhD. 

Professor  of  Latin,  Wake  Forest  College 


"Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom;  teaching 
and  admonishing  one  another  in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual 
songs,  singing  vnth  grace  in  your  hearts  to  the  Lord." 


ARTl€tV6RITATI 


BOSTON 
RICHARD   G.  BADGER 

THE   GORHAM   PRESS 


Copyright,  1921,  by  Richard  G.  Badger 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 


The  Gorham  Press,  Boston,  U.  S.  A. 


TO 
MY     MOTHER 

WHO    TAUGHT    ME    IN   MY    CHILDHOOD 
TO    LOVE    GOOD    MUSIC 


PREFACE 

IN  non-ritualistic  churches  tlie  participation  of 
the  congregation  in  the  serv^ice  is  limited  to  the 
singing  of  the  hymns.  And  yet,  this  exercise,  instead 
of  being  universally  recognized  as  of  vital  impor- 
tance, and  treated  accordingly,  is  permitted,  in  in- 
numerable churches,  to  sink  into  a  kind  of  dull 
lethargy  which  invariably  succeeds  in  communicating 
itself,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  to  the  whole  service. 
The  selections  are  made  from  a  slender  cycle  that  is 
traversed  again  and  again,  week  after  week,  month 
after  month,  year  after  3'ear,  with  never  an  attempt 
to  learn  new  hymns ;  the  spirit  of  religious  fervor 
and  enthusiasm  is  quenched  by  the  lazy  and  indif- 
ferent manner  in  which  the  songs  are  sung,  and 
nobody  knows  or  cares  enough  about  it  to  initiate 
reforms ;  the  pastor  has  never  taken  the  trouble  to 
study  the  history  of  hymn  singing  or  to  investigate 
the  circumstances  and  incidents  that  cluster  around 
the  composition  and  use  of  tlie  great  hymns ;  and 
the  people  never  receive  any  instruction  or  inspira- 
tion or  assistance  to  supplement  their  own  negligible 
knowledge  of,  and  interest  in,  hymnology.  As  a 
result  of  this  inexcusable  ignorance,  carelessness  and 

7 


8  Preface 

laziness,  the  singing  of  hymns,  in  all  too  many 
churches,  instead  of  being  an  act  of  worship,  has 
degenerated  into  a  mere  incident  of  the  service, — 
holding  its  place  solely  because  of  immemorial 
custom. 

A  fruitful  soil  is  thus  prepared  for  the  purveyor 
of  the  cheap,  ragtime  "hymn."  He  glibly  informs 
the  music  committee  (composed  usually  of  business 
men  who  would  be  insulted  if  one  ascribed  to  them 
any  knowledge  whatever  of  music)  that  his  book 
will  wake  the  congregation  out  of  the  lassitude  into 
which  it  has  sunk;  that  the  perfect  panacea  for  the 
lack  of  interest  in  the  singing  is  bound  up  within 
the  cheap  covers  of  his  "Tinkling  Cymbal" ;  that  the 
proper  way  to  stir  the  souls  of  the  people  is  to  begin, 
with  the  feet,  w^hich,  being  galvanized  into  frantic 
activity  under  the  spell  of  sundry  jigs,  waltzes  and 
jazzes,  will  speedily  communicate  their  exliilaration 
upward.  He  succeeds  almost  invariably  in  selling 
his  wares,  whereupon  he  goes  his  way  rejoicing  to 
the  next  church  with  a  "music  committee."  Now, 
the  cheap  hymn  book  is  not  a  cure  for  the  disease; 
its  adoption  simply  means  tlie  substitution  of  one 
malady  for  another. 

The  cure,  then,  must  be  sought  elsewhere.  It  is 
to  be  found  in  the  application  of  a  little  earnest 
consideration  and  study  to  the  whole  question  of 
hymnology.  The  ignorance  and  indifference  of 
pastor   and   people   are,   as   suggested   above,  very 


Preface  9 

largely  responsible  for  conditions  as  they  exist  today. 
This  book  is  prepared  with  the  very  practical  pur- 
pose of  presenting  what  seem  to  me  the  most  im- 
portant phases  of  the  subject, — one  of  which,  as  far 
as  I  can  learn,  has  not  been  treated  at  length  be- 
fore,— in  as  small  a  compass  as  possible,  to  readers 
who  have  neither  time  nor  inclination  for  exhaustive 
investigation. 

Pardon  a  personal  word:  I  am  neither  a  pro- 
fessional musician  nor  a  teacher  of  music.  The 
convictions  set  forth  in  this  little  volume  have  been 
formed  during  a  long  term  of  service  as  director  of 
a  volunteer  choir.  Further,  I  am  not  in  the  pay 
of  any  publisher  of  hymn  books,  nor  do  I  ever  ex- 
pect to  be. 

I  shall  be  sorry  if  certain  opinions  expressed  in 
the  following  pages  appear  to  any  reader  to  be 
harsh ;  but  I  shall  comfort  myself  with  the  reflection 
that  every  word  was  written  in  an  earnest  endeavor 
to  check  what  I  believe  to  be  a  real  evil  and  to  pro- 
mote a  deeper  interest  in  the  true  worship  of  God. 

H.  M.  P. 

Wake  Forest,  N.  C, 
March  30,  1921. 


CONTEXTS 


CHAPTER  I 

PAQB 

Historical   Sketch        13 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Cheap  "Hymn" 56 

CHAPTER  III 

Music  in  the  Church  and  Sunday  School  95 

Appendix 116 

Index 129 


PRACTICAL  HYMNOLOGY 


CHAPTER  I 


IN  the  year  1505  the  Bohemian  Brethren  laid  the 
foundation  stone  of  modern  congregational  sing- 
ing by  the  publication  of  a  hymn  book.  These 
followers  of  John  Hus  paved  the  way,  therefore,  for 
Martin  Luther  ^  in  Germany  and  for  Calvin  in 
Switzerland.  It  must  be  noted,  however,  that,  while 
German  Protestants,  under  Luther's  leadership, 
developed  a  real  hymnody,  English  and  Scottish 
Protestants,  following  Calvin,  adopted  the  metrical 
psalm  instead  of  the  hymn.  Indeed,  in  the  British 
Isles,  hymn  singing  was  practically  outlawed  until 
the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.    Calvin's 

*  For  the  facts  presented  in  this  chapter  I  am  chiefly  in- 
debted to  Dr.  Louis  F.  Benson,  whose  book,  "The  English 
Hymn,  Its  Development  and  Use"  (Geo.  H.  Doran  Co.,  1915), 
is  a  treasure-house   of  inspiration   as   well   as   information. 

*  "The  Congregational  Hymn  is  .  .  .  distinctly  the  child  of 
the  Reformation." — Benson,  op.  cit.,  p.  20.  Luther's  Catholic 
foes  insistetl  that  his  hynms  were  responsible  for  more  deser- 
tions from  the  mother  church  than  his  sermons  and  trjicts. 

13 


14  Prorctical  HymTiology 

contention  was,  of  course,  that  nothing  whatever 
should  be  employed  in  the  service  except  that  which 
had  the  express  authority  of  Scripture.  Man-made 
hymns,  therefore,  must  be  excluded  and  only  the 
inspired  Psalms  of  David  used  in  worship.  This 
point  of  view  held  firm  in  certain  denominational 
circles  until  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
and  proved  the  most  serious  obstacle  which  hymn 
singing  was  called  upon  to  face. 

The  first  English  hymn  book,  Myles  Coverdale's 
"Goostly  Psalms  and  Spirituall  Songes  drawen  out 
of  the  holy  Scripture",  published  in  1531,  was  a 
dull  and  uninspired  attempt  to  carry  fonvard  the 
Lutheran  ideas  of  hymn  singing  as  against  Calvin- 
istic  psalmody.  In  1546  the  King  put  this  produc- 
tion in  the  index  expurgatorius,  and  psalm  singing, 
with  the  highest  official  approval,  entered  upon  its 
two  hundred  years'  career.  It  must  not  be  under- 
stood that  hymn  singing  was  absolutely  eschewed 
during  this  period.  On  the  contrary,  sentiment  in 
its  favor  developed  more  or  less  steadily  and  grew 
largely  out  of  an  ever-increasing  dissatisfaction 
with  psalmody.  As  will  be  readily  seen,  the  Psalms 
of  David  could  not  possibly  give  expression  to  all 
the  thoughts  and  feelings  arising  in  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  members  of  a  New  Testament  church. 
And  so  we  have,  first,  a  gradual  alteration  of 
psalmody — in    the    hymn    direction.      Freer  para- 


Historical  Sketch  15 

phrases  were  used,  instead  of  the  former  literal 
translations;  other  parts  of  Scripture  found  their 
way  into  the  psalm  book;  then,  verses  in  imitation, 
or  as  exposition,  of  Scripture  passages  were  in- 
cluded; and,  finalh^  we  have  genuine  hymns  sug- 
gested by  Scripture.  This  evolution  proceeded,  it 
may  be  said,  along  three  lines.  There  was,  first, 
an  effort  to  improve  the  literary  character  of  the 
Psalms.  Second,  worshipers  felt  the  need  of  selec- 
tions which  could  express  more  completely  •  their 
Christian  emotions. — In  1679,  John  Patrick,  of 
London,  published  "A  Century  of  Select  Psalms  and 
portions  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  especially  those  of 
praise."  Dr.  Isaac  Watts  remarked,  some  forty 
years  later,  that  "he  hath  made  use  of  the  present 
language  of  Christianity  in  several  Psalms,  and  left 
out  many  of  the  Judaisms".  Patrick  was,  indeed, 
Watts'  predecessor  in  this  method  of  adapting  the 
Psalms  to  current  needs, — as  Watts  freely  admit- 
ted.— Third,  other  parts  of  the  Bible  began  to  be 
paraphrased.  As  early  as  1553  we  find  "The  Actes 
of  the  Apostles,  translated  into  Englyshe  metre,  and 
dedicated  to  the  Kynges  most  excellent  Maiestye, 
by  Christopher  Tye,  Doctor  in  Musyke  .  .  .  with 
notes  to  eche  chapter,  to  synge  and  also  to  play  upon 
the   Lute". 

William  Barton  published  in  1659  "A  Century  of 
Select  Hymns",  in  the  preface  of  which  he  took  an 


16  Practical  Hymnology 

uncompromising  stand  for  h^^mns.  His  work  ma}-  be 
said  to  occupy  the  transition  point  between  the 
psalm  and  the  hymn,  and  his  influence  upon  the 
future  progress  of  hymn  singing  in  England  was 
wide  and  important. 

From  1660  to  1707,  the  date  of  the  publication  of 
Dr.  Watts'  "Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs",  we  find 
numerous  writers  of  hymns,  all  of  whom  contributed 
more  or  less  largely  to  the  development  of  that  type 
of  the  English  hymn  which  reached  its  fruition 
under  Watts'  inspiration  and  guidance. 

Each  division  of  Nonconformists,  of  course,  met 
and  handled  the  question  of  hymns  in  its  own  way. 
Considerations  of  space  make  it  impossible  to  dis- 
cuss the  progress  of  hymn  singing  in  these  various 
denominations.  A  bit  of  Baptist  history  may  be 
presented  as  fairly  typical. 

In  the  year  1606  one  John  Smyth  led  his  congre- 
gation of  General,  or  Arminian,  Baptists  in  a  flight 
to  Amsterdam.  Smyth  believed  that  the  New 
Covenant  was  spiritual,  proceeding  out  of  the  heart, 
and  that,  therefore,  reading  out  of  a  book  was  no 
part  of  spiritual  worship,  but  was  the  invention 
of  sinful  man.  "We  hold",  said  he,  "that  seeing 
singing  a  psalm  is  a  part  of  spiritual  worship,  it  is 
unlawful  to  have  the  book  before  the  eye  in  time  of 
singing  a  psalm."  The  inevitable  result  of  this  in- 
teresting view  was,  of  course,  the  custom  of  singing 


Historical  Sketch  17 

individually  and  extemporaneously,  as  the  Spirit 
gave  them  utterance.  We  learn  from  a  book  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1645  that  this  was,  indeed,  the 
type  of  singing  practised  in  Smyth's  cliurch. 

In  1678  Thomas  Grantham,  the  official  spokesman 
of  the  General  Baptists  in  England,  delivered  him- 
self of  a  pronouncement  to  the  effect  that  the  New 
Testament  recognized  no  "promiscuous  singing", 
and  no  singing  by  the  rules  of  art,  but  only  the  "ut- 
terance of  psalms  and  hymns  sung  by  such  as  God 
hath  fitted  thereto  by  the  help  of  his  Spirit  for  the 
edification  of  the  listening  Church".  "If  all  sing", 
he  proceeded,  "there  are  none  to  be  edified".  He  in- 
sisted, further,  that  the  employment  of  pleasant 
tunes  would  bring  back  music  and  instruments, 
while,  if  other  men's  words  were  used,  the  way  would 
be  open  to  the  similar  use  of  set  forms  of  prayer. 

In  1689  the  General  Baptist  Assembly,  learning 
that  a  few  congregations  were  engaging  in  the  ne- 
farious practice  of  "promiscuous  singing",  called 
upon  these  erring  brethren  to  show  "what  psalms 
they  made  use  of  for  the  matter,  and  what  rules 
they  did  settle  upon  for  the  manner".  The  com- 
mittee of  investigation  made  the  following  report: 
"Not  the  metres  composed  by  Messrs.  Stemhold 
and  Hopkins,^  but  a  book  of  metres  composed  by  one 

■  "The  whole  Booke  of  Psalmes,  collected  itito  Englysh  metre 
by  T.  Starnhold,  I.  Hopkins  and  others";  1562.  ITiis  psalter 
is  usually  referred  to  as  the  "Old  Version." 


18  Practical  Hymnology 

Mr.  Barton,^  and  the  rules  produced  to  sing  these 
songs  as  set  down  secundum  art  em;  viz.,  as  the 
musicians  do  sing  according  to  their  gamut, — Sol, 
fa,  la,  my,  ray,  etc.,  etc. ;  which  appeared  so  strange- 
ly foreign  to  the  evangelical  worship  that  it  was  not 
conceived  anywise  safe  for  the  churches  to  admit 
such  carnal  formalities ;  but  to  rest  satisfied  in  this, 
till  we  can  see  something  more  perfect  in  this  case, 
that  as  prayer  of  one  in  the  church  is  the  prayer 
of  the  whole,  as  a  church,  so  the  singing  of  one 
in  the  church  is  the  singing  of  the  whole  church; 
and  as  he  that  praj^eth  in  the  church  is  to  perform 
the  service  as  of  the  ability  which  God  giveth, 
even  so,  he  that  singeth  praises  in  the  church  ought 
to  perform  that  service  as  of  the  ability  received 
of  God ;  that  as  a  mournful  voice  becomes  the  duty 
of  prayer,  so  a  joyful  voice,  with  gravity,  be- 
comes the  duty  of  praising  God  with  a  song  in  the 
Church  of  God".  This  remarkable  judgment  was  ap- 
proved by  the  Assembly,  and  the  practice  of  "pro- 
miscuous singing"  among  General  Baptists  was  very 
limited  until  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
In  1733  there  was  a  wail  from  Northamptonsliire 
that  some  of  the  churches  "had  fallen  into  the  way 
of  singing  the  Psalms  of  David,  or  other  men's  com- 
posures, with  tunable  notes  and  a  mixed  multitude; 
which  way  of  singing  appears  to  us  wholly  unwar- 

*See  pp.  15-16. 


Historical  Sketch  19 

rantable  from  the  word  of  God".  But  by  this  time 
the  Assembly  liad  so  far  clianged  its  attitude  as  to 
decline  to  reopen  the  (juestion. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  note,  in  passing,  two 
contemporary  Quaker  expressions  ^  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  "conjoint  singing".  George  Fox  wrote  in 
his  "Journal"  in  1655  the  following:  "Tho :  Holme 
&  Eliz:  Holme:  att  a  meetinge  in  Underbarrow: 
were  much  exercised  by  ye  power  of  ye  Lorde  in 
songes  and  Hymns  &  made  melody  &  rejoyced:  & 
ye  life  was  raised  thereby  &  refreshed  in  many:  in 
ye  meetinge".  In  1675  the  Yearly  Meeting  officially 
declared  that  "serious  sighing,  sencible  groaning  and 
reverent  singing"  were  recognized  as  divers  opera- 
tions of  the  Spirit  and  power  of  God,  and  were  not 
to  be  discouraged,  unless  immoderate.  All  this,  of 
course,  refers  to  extemporaneous  solo  performances. 
"Conjoint  singing"  has  been  introduced  into  the 
Quaker  meeting  only  within  the  last  fifty  years, 
and  is  still  not  practised  universally. 

Let  us  now  consider  briefly  the  Particular,  or 
Calvinistic,  Baptists.  Although  their  general  point 
of  view  was  exactly  opposite  that  of  the  Arminian 
branch  of  the  Church,  yet  some  congregations  were 
unalterably  opposed  to  general  participation  in 
hymn  singing.  The  father  of  Baptist  hymnody  was 
Benjamin   Keach,    who    printed    two    collections    of 

"  Quoted  by  Benson,  op.  cit.,  p.  95. 


20  Practical  Hymnology 

hymns;  the  first,  in  1676;  the  second,  in  1691.  A 
bitter  controversy  was  begun  in  1690  by  a  certain 
Isaac  Marlow,  a  dissenter  in  Keach's  own  congrega- 
tion. This  controversy  raged  for  several  years  and 
enlisted  the  energies  of  many  writers  on  both  sides 
of  the  question  at  issue.  But  after  the  dust  of  the 
conflict  had  cleared  away,  Keach's  foundation  stones 
were  found  to  be  unmoved.  A  beginning  of  Baptist 
hymnody  had  been  made. 

Before  we  pass  to  the  chief  figure  in  the  history 
of  hymnology,  let  us  observe  the  general  situation 
in  Nonconformist  churches.  Psalms  were  still  used 
exclusively  in  the  majority  of  these  bodies, — lined 
out  by  the  precentor  and  droned  over  by  the  con- 
gregation. Dr.  Watts  remarked,  in  the  preface  to 
his  "Psalms  of  David  Imitated"  (1719),  that  each 
note  was  dwelt  upon  so  long  as  to  put  "the  congrega- 
tion quite  out  of  breath  in  singing  five  or  six 
stanzas".  The  people  knew  little  about  music  and 
cared  less.  They  carried  no  psalm  book  to  church, 
but  depended  upon  the  clearness  of  the  precentor's 
enunciation  for  their  words.  Watts  sums  up  the 
situation  characteristically  in  the  preface  to  his 
"Hymns"  of  1707:  "While  we  sing  the  praises  of 
our  God  in  his  Church,  we  are  employ'd  in  that  part 
of  worship  which  of  all  others  is  the  nearest  a-kin 
to  Heaven ;  and  'tis  pity  that  this  of  all  others  should 
be   pcrform'd   tlie   worst   upon   Earth.  .   .  .  To   see 


Historical  Sketch  21 

the  dull  IndifForciicc,  the  negligent  and  the  thought- 
less Air  that  sits  upon  the  Faces  of  a  whole  Assem- 
bly while  tlie  Psalm  is  on  their  Lips,  might  tempt 
even  a  charitable  Observer  to  suspect  the  Fervency 
of  inward  Religion,  and  'tis  much  to  be  fear'd  that 
the  minds  of  most  of  the  Worshippers  are  absent  or 
unconcern'd.  ...  Of  all  our  Religious  Solemnities 
Psalmodie  is  the  most  unhappily  manag'd.  That 
very  Action  which  should  elevate  us  to  the  most  de- 
lightful and  divine  Sensations  doth  not  only  flat  our 
Devotion,  but  too  often  awakens  our  Regret,  and 
touches  all  the  Springs  of  Uneasiness  within  us". 
We  pass  now  to  a  brief  consideration  of  the  work 
and  influence  of  Isaac  Watts  «  (1674-1748).  An- 
other quotation  from  the  preface  to  his  "Hymns" 
(cited  above)  will  be  inserted  here,  because  it  sets 
forth  with  such  lucidity  and  energy  the  good  doctor's 
view  of  the  malady  he  proposed  to  treat.  Says  he: 
"I  have  been  long  convinc'd,  that  one  great  Occasion 
of  this  Evil  arises  from  the  Matter  and  Words 
to   which   we  confine   all   our  Songs.      Some   of   'em 

•Among  his  most  familiar  hymns  are  the  following:  "Come, 
we  that  love  the  Lord";  "High  in  the  Heavens,  eternal  God"; 
"How  did  my  heart  rejoice  to  hear";  "Great  God,  how  infinite 
Thou  art";  "O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past";  "Begin,  my  tongue, 
some  heavenly  theme";  "Joy  to  the  world,  the  Lord  is  come"; 
"Alas!  and  did  my  Saviour  bleed";  "When  I  survey  the  won- 
drous Cross";  "Come,  let  us  join  our  ciicerful  songs";  "Come, 
Holy  Spirit,  Heavenly  Dove";  "Not  all  the  blood  of  beasts"; 
"When  I  can  read  my  title  clear";  "y\m  I  a  soldier  of  the 
Cross";  "Jesus  shall  reign  where'er  the  sun";  "There  is  a  Land 
of  pure  delight";  "God  is  the  refuge  of  His  saints." 


22  Practical  Hymnology 

are  almost  opposite  to  the  Spirit  of  the  Gospel: 
Many  of  them  foreign  to  the  State  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  widely  different  from  the  present 
Circumstances  of  Christians.  Hence  it  comes  to 
pass  that  when  spiritual  Affections  are  excited  with- 
in us,  and  our  Souls  are  raised  a  little  above  this 
Earth  in  the  beginning  of  a  Psalm,  we  are  check'd 
on  a  sudden  in  our  Ascent  toward  Heaven  by  some 
Expressions  that  are  more  suited  to  the  Days  of 
Carnal  Ordinances,  and  fit  only  to  be  sung  in  the 
Worldly  Sanctuary.  When  we  are  just  entring  into 
an  Evangelic  Frame  by  some  of  the  Glories  of  the 
Gospel  presented  in  the  brightest  Figures  of  Juda- 
ism, yet  the  very  next  line  perhaps  which  the  Clerk 
parcels  out  unto  us,  hath  something  in  it  so  ex- 
tremely Jewish  and  cloudy,  that  darkens  our  Sight 
of  God  the  Saviour:  Thus  by  keeping  too  close  to 
David  in  the  House  of  God,  the  Vail  of  Moses  is 
thrown  over  our  Hearts.  While  we  are  kindling  into 
divine  Love  by  the  ^Meditations  of  the  loving  Kind- 
ness of  God  and  the  Mvltitude  of  his  tender  Mercies, 
within  a  few  Verses  some  dreadful  Curse  against 
Men  is  propos'd  to  our  Lips.  .  .  .  Some  Sentences 
of  the  Psalmist  that  are  expressive  of  the  Temper 
of  our  own  Hearts  and  the  Circumstances  of  our 
Lives  may  Compose  our  Spirits  to  Seriousness,  and 
allure  us  to  a  sweet  Retirement  within  our  selves ; 
but  we  meet  with  a  following  Line  which  so  peculiar- 


Historical  Sketch  9S 

\y  belongs  but  to  one  Action  or  Hour  of  the  Life 
of  David  or  Asaph,  that  breaks  off  our  Song  in  the 
midst;  our  Consciences  are  affrighted  lest  we  should 
speak  a  Falsehood  unto  God". 

Dr.  Watts  contemplated,  and  actually  submitted 
to  the  Nonconformist  public,  what  was  in  effect 
a  new  system  of  church  song.  He  insisted,  first, 
that  the  psalmody  should  be  evangelical;  second, 
that  it  should  be  freely  composed  (that  is,  that 
there  should  not  be  too  strict  adherence  to  the  let- 
ter of  Scripture)  ;  third,  that  it  should  express  the 
thoughts  and  feelings  of  the  singers,  and  not  of 
David  or  Asaph.  His  theory  of  worship  embraced 
both  psalms  and  hynans,  but  his  views  on  the  proper 
use  of  psalms  were  somewhat  revolutionary.  He 
maintained  that  the  Psalms,  as  such,  were  meant 
to  be  read,  and  that  they  ought  to  be  translated 
literally.  Those  church  members  who  declined  to 
give  up  psalm  singing  must  use  a  prose  translation, 
and  so  must  either  master  Hebrew  music  or  learn 
to  chant.  To  the  average  Nonconformist,  this,  of 
course,  was  practically  equivalent  to  the  casting 
aside  of  the  psalm. 

Dr.  Watts  announced,  further,  that  congrega- 
tional si  ging  should  not  represent  God's  word  to  us, 
but  our  word  to  God.  The  adoption  of  this  view 
made  it  necessary  to  omit  a  number  of  time-honored 
passages  of  the  Psalms,  and  also  compelled  some 
adaptation  of  the  rest,  to  the  end  that  David  might 


24  Practical  Hynmology 

speak  as  he  would  have  spoken,  had  he  been  a  Chris- 
tian, an  Englishman,  and  a  contemporary  of  Dr. 
Watts !  Thus,  in  his  "Short  Essay  toward  the  Im- 
provement of  Psalmody"  (1707),  Watts  remarks: 
"Judah  and  Israel  maj-  be  called  England  and  Scot- 
land, and  the  land  of  Canaan  may  be  translated 
into  Great  Britain". 

In  this  same  essay  he  set  forth  his  arguments  '^ 
for  hymns — "Spiritual  Songs  of  a  more  evangelic 
frame  for  the  Use  of  Divine  Worship  under  the 
Gospel".     They  are  as  follows : 

First.  A  Psalm  properly  translated  for  Christian 
use  is  no  longer  inspired  as  to  form  and  language: 
only  its  materials  are  borrowed  from  God's  Word. 
It  is  just  as  lawful  to  use  other  Scriptural  thoughts, 
and  compose  them  into  a  spiritual  song. 

Second.  The  very  ends  and  designs  of  Psalmody 
demand  songs  that  shall  respond  to  the  fullness  of 
God's  revelation  of  Himself.  God's  revelation  in 
Christ,  and  our  own  devotions  responding  to  it, 
require   Gospel   songs. 

Third.  The  Scriptures  themselves,  especially 
Eph:  V,  19-20,  and  Col.  iii,  16-17,  command  us  to  sing 
and  give  thanks  in  the  name  of  Christ.  Why  shall  we 
pray  and  preach  in  that  name,  and  sing  under  terms 
of  the  Law? 

Fourth.     The  Book  of  Psalms  does  not  provide 

'Cited  by  Benson,  op.  cit.,  pp.  112-113. 


Historical  Sketch  25 

for  all  occasions  of  Christian  praise,  or  express  all 
Christian  experiences. 

Fifth.  The  primitive  "Gifts  of  the  Spirit" 
covered  alike  preaching,  prayer  and  song.  It  is  ad- 
mitted by  all  that,  under  the  present  administra- 
tion of  Grace,  ministers  are  by  study  and  diligence 
to  acquire  and  cultivate  gifts  of  preaching  and 
prayer.  Why  shall  they  not  also  seek  to  acquire 
and  cultivate  the  capacity  of  composing  spiritual 
songs,  and  exercise  it  along  with  the  other  parts  of 
worship,  preaching  and  prayer.'' 

Watts  began  writing  hymns  as  early  as  ITOO, 
when  he  was  only  twenty-five  3'ears  old.  There  is 
a  story,  fairly  well  vouched  for,  to  the  effect  that 
the  young  man  one  day  expressed  to  his  father  his 
disgust  at  the  hymns  sung  in  their  little  meeting- 
house. The  elder  Watts  invited  his  son  to  write 
some  better  ones,  which  Isaac  proceeded  to  do  with 
great  alacrity.  The  congregation  liked  them  and 
demanded  more.  The  first  collection  was  published 
under  the  following  impressive  title:  ''Horae 
Lyricae:  Poems,  chiefly  of  the  lyric  Kind.  In  two 
books.  I.  Songs,  etc.  sacred  to  Devotion.  II.  Odes, 
Elegys,  etc.  to  Vertue  Loyalty  and  Friendship.  By 
I.  Watts.  London,  printed  by  S.  and  D.  Bridge,  for 
John  Lawrence,  at  the  Sign  of  the  Angel  in  the  Poul- 
trey.  MDCCVI".  This  book  was  addressed  to  lovers 
of  poetry,  and  the  few  hymns  included  in  it  were  ap- 


26  Practical  Hymnology 

parently  carefully  selected  for  their  distinct  literary 
quality.  Watts  insisted  frequently  that  his  hymns 
were  composed  for  the  plain  people  and  were  writ- 
ten in  a  style  which  made  them  easily  apprehended 
by  the  unpoetic  mind.  The  hymns,  therefore,  with 
a  literary  "taint"  he  published  in  his  "Horae 
Lyricae",  as  noted  above,  while  his  simpler  songs 
were  issued  in  1707  as  "Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs. 
In  Three  Books.  I.  Collected  from  the  Scriptures. 
II.  Compos'd  on  Divine  subjects.  III.  Prepared 
for  the  Lord's  Supper.  With  an  Essay  towards 
the  improvement  of  Christian  Psalmody,  by  the  use 
of  evangelical  Hymns  in  worship,  as  well  as  the 
Psalms  of  David.  By  I.  Watts.  London,  printed 
by  J.  Humfreys,  for  John  Lawrence,  at  the  Angel 
in  the  Poult rey,  1707".  Two  years  later  a  second 
edition  of  this  truly  epoch-making  publication  ap- 
peared, containing  one  hundred  and  forty-five  ad- 
ditional hymns.  In  1719  Watts  published  his 
"Psalms  of  David  imitated  in  the  language  of  the 
New  Testament,  and  Apply'd  to  the  Christian  state 
and  worship".  This  book  gave  concrete  expression 
to  its  author's  views  of  psalm  singing,  mentioned 
above  (pp.  24-25).  It  contained  versions  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-eight  Psalms.  His  system  of  praise 
was  now  complete,  although  a  number  of  new  hymns 
appeared  in  subsequent  years. 

There  is  not  space  to  discuss  in  detail  Watts'  in- 


Historical  Sketch  917 

flucnce  upon  the  various  denominations  in  England 
and  America.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  his  work  gave 
a  tremendous  impetus  to  the  movement  for  hymn 
singing  in  every  Nonconformist  body.  Numerous 
so-called  supplements  were  published.  For  example, 
"A  collection  of  Hymns  from  various  authors,  de- 
signed as  a  Supplement  to  Dr.  Watts's  Psalms  and 
Hymns",  George  Burder,  1784.  This  was  only  one 
of  a  veritable  deluge  of  such  books, — a  deluge  which 
flooded  England,  and,  to  some  extent.  New  England, 
until  the  inevitable  reaction  began,  about  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Let  us  note  at  this  point  Watts'  influence  upon 
Baptist  worship.  The  General  Baptists  resisted  the 
onward  march  of  congregational  song  until  the  lat- 
ter half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Their  first 
hymnal  was  issued  in  1772  ("Hymns  and  Spiritual 
Songs,  mostly  collected  from  various  authors ;  with 
a  few  that  have  not  been  published  before").  Two 
influences  contributed  to  the  development  of  a  de- 
mand for  a  hymn  book  in  this  branch  of  the  Baptist 
Church:  first,  the  work  of  Dr.  Watts;  and  second, 
the  Methodist  revival  under  the  Wesleys,  which 
brought  into  the  Baptist  fold  a  great  number  of 
new  and  very  enthusiastic  converts,  in  whose  souls 
the  stirring  evangelistic  hymns  of  the  revival  still 
reechoed.  And  so,  following  the  "Hymns  and  Spirit- 
ual Songs"  of  1772,  there  appeared  in  1785  another 


28  Practical  Hymnology 

collection  by  Samuel  Deacon,  a  village  clockmaker 
— and  pastor;  and  in  1791  the  General  Baptist  As- 
sociation authorized  the  publication  of  yet  another, 
which  entered  the  field  in  1793.  Deacon  followed  with 
his  "New  and  large  collection  of  Hymns  and  Psalms" 
(1800).  This  book  was  so  popular  that  in  1830 
it  was  revised  by  a  committee  of  the  Association 
and  adopted  as  the  official  General  Baptist  hymnal. 
Among  Particular,  or  Calvinistic,  Baptists, 
Watts'  "Psalms"  and  "Hymns"  attained  a  wide  pop- 
ularity and  exerted  a  lasting  influence.  In  fact,  the 
extensive  use  of  his  hymns  was  largely  responsible  for 
what  Benson  calls  "homiletical  hymnody",  that  is, 
the  practice  of  selecting  the  last  hymn  in  the  service 
for  its  bearing  upon  the  sermon.  This  practice, 
begun  by  the  Particular  Baptists  in  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  has  never  been  dropped  in 
Baptist  churches,  and  is  a  distinguishing  character- 
istic which  marks  the  progress  of  the  denomination 
in  hymnology  at  every  step  of  the  way.  The  neces- 
sity, felt  so  strongly  by  ministers,  of  obtaining 
hymns  appropriate  to  their  discourses  led,  from 
that  time  on,  to  the  publication  of  many  new  col- 
lections and  original  hymns.  Perhaps  the  most 
widely  used  book  was  Rippon's  "A  Selection  of 
Hymns  from  the  best  authors,  intended  to  be  an 
Appendix  to  Dr.  Watts's  Psalms  and  Hymns" 
(London,     1787).        This     volume,     with     Watts' 


Historical  Sketch  29 

"Psalms"  ^  and  "Hymns"  ^  mifrht  almost  be  re- 
garded as  the  authorized  hymnal  of  Particular 
Baptists,  since  for  nearly  a  hundred  years  it  re- 
mained tlie  standard  of  Baptist  hymnody.^" 

In  this  country,  during  the  early  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  congregational  singing  was  a 
dismal  business,  indeed,  if  we  may  accept  as  true 
some  remarks  ^^  published  in  1720  by  a  Mr.  Symmes, 
of  Boston.  He  declared  that  conditions  were  "in- 
decent," and  that,  from  a  lack  of  books  and  the  in- 
ability of  the  people  to  sing  by  note,  a  very  few 
tunes  were  sung  from  memory,  "tortured  and  twisted 
as  every  unskillful  throat  saw  fit".  Watts'  "Psalms 
Imitated"  was  first  reprinted  in  America  in  1729, 
by  Benjamin  Franklin,  in  Philadelphia.  Ten  years 
later  the  "Hymns"  was  reprinted  in  Boston.  It  is 
important  to  note  that  the  revival  movement  led 
by  the  Wesleys  and  Whitefield  was  largely  instru- 
mental in  weaning  congregations  away  from  the  old 
"Bay  Psalm  Book"  and  in  introducing  Watts  (who, 
it  may  be  said,  did  not  attain  wide  popularity  until 
after  the  Revolution). 

Among    Baptists,    where    "promiscuous    singing" 

was  practised  at  all,  the  "Bay  Psalm  Book"  (1640) 

had  been  used.     Watts'  influence  was  slower  in  mak- 

« Cf.  p.  2G. 
^Cf.  p.  26. 

'"  Benson,  op.  cit.,  p.  145,  quotes  Spurgeon,  to  the  effect  that 
Uippon,  With  Watts,  was  used  in  his  Tabernacle  until  18G6. 
"/6»U,  p.  161. 


30  Practical  Hymnology 

ing  itself  felt  generally  in  that  denomination  than 
in  any  other.  One  reason  for  this  was  that  Baptists 
rather  insisted,  from  the  very  first,  upon  a  strictly 
denominational  hymnody,  especially  with  a  view  to  a 
sufficient  selection  of  songs  appropriate  to  the 
baptismal  service.  The  first  American  Baptist 
hymnal,  "Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs,  collected  from 
the  works  of  several  authors"  (Newport,  1766), 
opens  with  sixteen  hymns  on  baptism. 

Benson  says  (p.  199)  :  "The  independent  and 
individualistic  spirit  combined  with  denominational 
insistence,  that  has  always  characterized  Baptists, 
developed  and  has  maintained  a  striking  proclivity 
toward  the  multiplication  of  hymn  books."  And 
so  we  find  hymnal  after  hymnal  published  during  the 
years  following  the  appearance  of  the  Newport 
book.  The  large  number  of  these  productions  ob- 
scures, in  some  measure,  the  actual  development  of 
the  Watts'  influence. 

Another  reason  for  the  tardy  reception  accorded 
to  Watts'  books  by  Baptists  was  that  large  numbers 
of  them  preferred  songs  of  a  somewhat  lower  literary 
grade.  This  is  sad,  but  true.  And  unfortunately 
that  lack  of  taste  and  appreciation  has  perpetuated 
itself, — has  grown  and  multiplied, — and  furnishes 
today  a  gaping,  unappeasable  maw,  do^vn  which  flow 
successive  editions  of  popular  ragtime  books,  made 
over  and  refurbished  from  time  to  time  to  titillate 


Historical  Sketch  31 

anew  palates  soon  satiated  with  their  jingling  me- 
diocrity. Early  Baptists  delighted  in  highly  emo- 
tional songs  with  a  rousing  chorus,  and  so  a  number 
of  books  appeared  to  meet  this  demand,  while  Watts 
took  second  place.  Dr.  Benson  (pp.  202-203)  may 
be  quoted  again  at  this  point:  "We  may  judge  exist- 
ing conditions  by  the  character  of  some  of  the  170 
songs  appended  to  Parkinson's  Selection.^^  ...  In 
the  first  Newton's  unfortunate  lines  are  altered  to 
serve  as  a  refrain  after  each  stanza : — 

'Then  be  entreated  now  to  stop 
For  unless  you  warning  take, 

Ere  30U  are  aware  you'll  drop 
Into  the  burning  lake.' 

The  third  is  'A  Dream'  of  Judgment  Day.  The 
fifth  is  entitled  'Miss  Hataway's  Experience'  and  in- 
cludes her  conversation  with  'an  uncle  from  whom 
she  had  large  expectations'.  The  fifteenth  begins, 
'Ye  scarlet-colour'd  sinners,  come.'  " 

And  3'et,  a  number  of  congregations  in  this  coun- 
try, especially  in  the  North  and  East,  had  used 
Watts'  "Psalms"  and  "Hymns"  steadily  for  a  num- 
ber of  \'ears,  and  their  example  was  wholesome. 
There  was,  eventually,  a  sort  of  general  effort  to  as- 
semble the  best  of  Baptist  hymnody,  together  with 
selections  from  Watts.  In  1819  James  M.  Winchell, 
"1800. 


32  Practical  Hymnology 

of  Boston,  published  "An  arrangement  of  the  Psalms, 
Hymns,  and  Spiritual  Songs  ...  of  Watts,  to 
which  are  added,  indexes  ...  to  facilitate  the  use 
of  the  whole".  With  this  was  bound  up  "A  Selection 
of  more  than  300  Hymns,  from  the  most  approved 
authors". 

American  Presbyterians  for  a  long  time  sang 
psalms  exclusively.  Most  of  them  were  Scotch-Irish 
who  had  been  raised  on  psalms  and  were  blissfully 
ignorant  of  the  existence  of  Isaac  Watts.  The  few 
who  did  know  of  his  work  hated  him  cordially  as  a 
presumptuous  innovator.  And  so  it  is  not  surprising 
to  find  that  when  the  Church  divided,  in  1741,  into 
the  "Old  Side"  and  "New  Side,"  the  attempted  in- 
troduction of  Watts'  "Psalms  Imitated"  was  one 
of  the  causes  of  the  split.  In  spite  of  official  thun- 
derings,  this  version  of  the  Psalms  steadily  increased 
in  popularity,  and,  before  many  years  had  passed, 
Watts'  "Hymns",  too,  began  to  be  used  in  Presby- 
terian churches.  Various  Synods  were  called  upon 
to  settle  the  question,  but  they  preferred  to  leave 
it  to  the  local  churches.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
great  impetus  was  given  to  hymn  singing  by  the 
doleful  and  woebegone  manner  in  which  psalms  were 
rendered  in  the  majority  of  churches.  John  Adams, 
after  attending  a  meeting  of  the  "Old  Presbyterian 
Society"   in   New  York   in    177-i,   remarked  ^^   that 

"  Benson,  op.  cil.,  p.  184. 


Historical  Sketch  33 

tlieir  psalmody  was  "in  the  old  way^  as  wc  call  it — 
all  the  drawling,  quavering,  discord  in  the  world". 
But  the  Scotch-Irish,  particularly  in  the  South, 
clung  to  their  Rous'  version  of  the  Psalms  (1650) 
with  such  tenacity  that  the  mere  mention  of  Watts 
was  quite  sufficient  to  charge  the  atmosphere  with 
electricity.  Barlow's  revised  edition  of  Watts  (1785) 
received  official  approval  two  years  later,  but  the 
powers  declined  again  to  say  whether  they  preferred 
Watts'  hymns  or  Rous'  psalms.  And  so  began  the 
great  "Psalmody  Controversy",  which  continued  for 
several  years  with  a  bitter  ferocity  difficult  for  us 
in  these  days  to  understand.  Ministers  were  driven 
from  their  pulpits ;  worship  was  interrupted  by 
hisses,  catcalls  and  jeers;  men  went  up  and  down  the 
land  howling  imprecations  at  their  brethren  of  the 
opposite  party ;  churches  split  into  factions,  battling 
with  all  the  holy  zeal  of  crusaders,  and  finally  estab- 
lishing two  churches  where  one  had  existed  before. 
Although  this  most  unfortunate  and  disastrous  con- 
troversy raged  parochially  for  four  or  five  years  in 
different  parts  of  the  country,  it  was  theoretically 
settled  in  1788  by  the  adoption  of  the  new  "Directory 
for  the  worship  of  God,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America".  Now,  this  Di- 
rectory referred  to  "the  duty  of  Christians  to  praise 
God  publiquely  by  singing  psalms  or  hymns",  and 
advised,  further,  that  churches  should  give  up  the 


34  Practical  Hymnology 

old  custom  of  "lining  out"  and  devote  more  time  and 
study  to  music  in  the  sanctuary.  That  advice,  acted 
upon  generally  with  considerable  enthusiasm,  meant, 
of  course,  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  hymn,  that  is 
to  say,  of  Watts.  And  so  "instructors  of  psalmody" 
appeared  everywhere,  classes  were  organized,  and 
new  hymnals  published.  But  "Barlow's  Watts"  re- 
mained for  many  years  the  praise  book  of  the  large 
majority  of  Presbyterian   churches. 

We  may  now  attempt  to  summarize  Watts'  in- 
fluence. A  great  many  writers  have  called  him  the 
inventor  of  the  vernacular  hymn.  This  is  hardly 
a  correct  judgment.  Watts,  rather,  established 
a  definite  and  permanent  type  of  hymn,  founded, 
not  on  poetic  flights  or  niceties  of  style,  but  on  the 
rock-bottom  of  the  emotions  and  aspirations  of  the 
great  body  of  Christians.  Dr.  Benson's  estimate  ^* 
is  so  clear  and  forceful  that  it  may  be  quoted  at 
some  length:  "...  he  could  bring  to  bear  upon 
his  hymn  writing  a  discernment,  and  a  combination 
of  resources,  spiritual,  intellectual,  poetic,  utili- 
tarian, possessed  by  none  of  his  predecessors  or  all 
of  them  if  put  together.  He  was  not  alone  in  per- 
ceiving that  an  acceptable  evangelical  Church  Song 
was  a  spiritual  need  of  his  time,  but  he  had  the  ability 
to  foresee,  as  other  men  could  not,  the  possibilities 
and  limitations  of  the  Congregational  Hymn  in 
"  Of.  ciL,  pp.  206-207. 


Historical  Sketch  35 

filling  that  need.  With  great  assiduity  he  dedicated 
his  ample  gifts  to  the  embodiment  of  what  he  saw. 
He  produced  a  whole  cycle  of  religious  song  which 
his  own  ardent  faith  made  devotional,  which  his 
manly  and  lucid  mind  made  simple  and  strong,  which 
his  poetic  feeling  and  craftmanship  made  rythmical 
and  often  lyrical,  and  which  his  sympathy  with  the 
people  made  hymnic.  Probably  the  whole  body  of 
his  work  appealed  alike  to  the  people  of  his 
time,  whose  spiritual  needs  he  so  clearly  apprehended. 
The  larger  part  of  his  work  proved  to  be  an  abid- 
ing enrichment  of  Church  Song,  and  to  many  its 
only  adequate  expression.  His  best  hymns  remain 
permanently,  after  the  winnowing  of  two  centuries, 
among  the  classics  of  devotion". 

Watts  founded,  unconsciously,  of  course,  a  school 
of  hymn  writers,  not  all  of  whom  reflected  credit  on 
their  founder.  But  in  the  closing  years  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  there  was  a  really  significant  group 
of  Baptist  hymn  writers  of  the  "School  of  Watts". 
Miss  Anne  Steele  ^^  was  one  of  this  school ;  others 
were  Benjamin  Beddome,^^  Samuel  Stennett,^*^  and 
John  Fawcett.^^ 

"Author  of  "Father  of  Mercies,  in  Thy  Word";  "He  lives, 
the  great  Redeemer  lives";  "Dear  Refuge  of  my  weary  soul"; 
"Father,  whate'er  of  earthly  bliss." 

"  Author  of  "God,  in  the  gospel  of  His  Son." 

"Author  of  "Come,  every  pious  heart";  "Majestic  sweetness 
sits  enthroned." 

"Author  of  "Lord,  dismiss  us  with  thy  blessing";  "How 
precious  is  the  Book  divine";  "Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds." 


36  Practical  HymTwlogy 

After  all,  Dr.  Watts'  greatest  achievement  was  the 
impetus  he  gave  to  actual  hymn  singing.  His  hymns 
were  not  hung  up  on  the  wall  as  models  of  devo- 
tional poetry;  they  were  svmg,  and  sung  almost 
universally.  And  his  success  differed  from  that  of  the 
Wesley s,  whom  we  shall  study  next,  in  that  while 
they  depended  largely  upon  the  enthusiasm  of  a 
great  revival  to  stimulate  interest  in  their  hymns 
and  the  singing  of  them,  Watts  went  to  work  soberly 
and  seriously,  and  succeeded  magnificently,  solely 
on  the  merit  of  his  hymns.  His  "movement"  was 
not  revivalistic,  but  purely  liturgical, — "a  .  .  .  de- 
liberate undertaking  for  the  'Renovation  of  Psalm- 
ody' in  the  ordinary  worship  of  the  Church".^^ 

We  pass  now  to  the  great  revival  under  the  Wes- 
leys,  which  occupied  the  period  from  1721  to  1738. 
It  may  be  repeated  that  the  keynote  of  Wesleyan 
hymnody  was  fervor  and  enthusiasm,  as  distinguished 
from  the  more  sober  devjoutness  of  Dr.  Watts' 
work.^^  The  history  of  the  missionary  activities  of 
John  and  Charles  Wesley  in  the  Colonies  is  well 
known.  It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  John  Wesley's 
first  hymn  book,  "Collection  of  Psalms  and  Hymns", 
was  published  at  Charleston,  S.  C,  in  1737.  The 
following  year,  on  his  return  to  England,  he  issued 

^'3enson,  o'p.  alt.,  p.  218. 

** "[Charles]  Wesley  as  a  poet  is  less  of  a  pedagogue  and 
more  of  a  true  singer." — Waldo  S.  Pratt,  "Musical  Ministries 
in  the  Church"  (G.  Schirmer,  New  York,  1915),  p.  173. 


Historical  Sketch  37 

a  second  volume.  Both  of  these  books  were  sent 
forth  anonymously.  A  third,  appearing  in  1739, 
and  bearing  the  names  of  both  brothers,  was  one 
of  the  first  results  of  the  profound  evangelical 
awakening  which  these  remarkable  men  experienced 
shortly  after  their  arrival  in  England  from  the 
Colonies.  The  hymns  in  this  volume  proclaimed  in 
clarion  tones  the  deep  religious  enthusiasm  of  the 
authors,  and  set  permanently  the  style  for  Methodist 
hymnody. 

Let  us  consider  now  their  part  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  English  hymn.  In  the  first  place,  they 
were  responsible  for  a  great  enrichment  of  the  stores 
of  hymns.  Their  poetical  publications  covered  a 
period  of  fifty-three  years  and  numbered  fifty-six, 
of  which  thirty  or  more  were  exclusively  original. 
The  whole  body  of  Wesleyan  hymns  ^^  was  published 
in  1872  and  filled  thirteen  volumes  (6000  pages). 

Secondly,    the    work    of    the   Wesleys    tended    to 


"The  hymns  composed  by  Charles  Wesley  have  enjoyed  a 
far  wider  popularity  than  those  of  his  brother,  whose  contribu- 
tions to  hymnody  were  translations  from  the  German.  The 
following  may  be  mentioned:  "Ye  servants  of  God,  your 
Master  proclaim";  "Come,  Thou  Almighty  King";  "Hark! 
the  herald  Angels  sing";  "Christ  the  Lord  is  risen  to- 
day"; "Lo!  He  comes,  with  clouds  descending";  "I  know 
that  my  Redeemer  lives";  "Blow  ye  the  trumpet,  blow"; 
"Sinners  turn,  why  ^\411  ye  die";  "Jesus^  lover  of  my  soul"; 
"Depth  of  mercy,  can  there  be";  "A  charge  to  keep  I  have"; 
"O  for  a  heart  to  praise  my  God";  "Love  divine,  all  loves  ex- 
celling"; "O  for  a  thousand  tongues  to  sing";  "Our  Lord  is 
r'isen  from  the  dead." 


38  Practical  Hymnology 

change  the  ideal  of  the  hymn,  both  on  its  spiritual 
and  literary  side,  and  to  establish  new  types  of 
hymns.  There  was  a  different  atmosphere,  a  height- 
ening of  emotion,  a  novelty  of  theme,  a  new  manner 
of  expression.  The  evangelistic  note  was  strongly 
stressed,  the  predominating  theme  became  that  of 
Christian  experience,  and,  finally,  there  was  set  a 
new  and  higher  literary  standard.  Watts  had  in- 
sisted that  the  hymn  must  be  kept  outside  the  realm 
of  poetr}^  The  Weslej^s,  on  the  other  hand,  held 
that  a  hymn  should  be  a  religious  lyric;  that  the 
people  must  be  lifted  to  its  level  and  made  to  feel 
its  beauty.  A  passage  ^^  from  John  Wesley's  "Col- 
lection" of  1780  may  be  quoted  at  this  point:  "May 
I  be  permitted  to  add  a  few  words  with  regard  to 
the  poetry.?  ...  In  these  Hymns  there  is  no  dog- 
gerel, no  botches,  nothing  put  in  to  patch  up  the 
rhyme,  no  feeble  expletives.  Here  is  nothing  turgid 
or  bombast  on  the  one  hand,  or  low  and  creeping  on 
the  other.  .  .  .  Here  are  (allow  me  to  say)  both  the 
purity,  the  strength  and  the  elegance  of  the  Eng- 
lish language:  and  at  the  same  time  the  utmost 
simplicity  and  plainness,  suited  to  every  capacity. 
Lastly,  I  desire  men  of  taste  to  judge  (these  are  the 
only  competent  judges;)  whether  there  is  not  in 
some  of  the  following  verses,  the  true  Spirit  of 
Poetry:   such   as   cannot  be  acquired    by    art    and 

*^  Benson,  op.  cit.,  p.  253. 


Historical  Sketch  89 

laI>our;  but  must  be  the  gift  of  nature.  By  labour 
a  man  may  become  a  tolerable  imitator  of  spensee, 
SHAKESPEARE,  OF  MILTON,  and  may  heap  together 
pretty  compound  epithets,  as  pale-eyed,  weak- 
eyed,  and  the  like.  But  unless  he  is  bom  a  Poet,  he 
will  never  attain  the  genuine  spirit  of  poetry." 
"In  the  judgment  of  a  recent  historian  of  Eng^ 
lish  Poetry  [W.  J.  Courthope],  Wesley  *was 
fully  justified'  in  making  this  boast,  and  his 
brother  Charles  was  'the  most  admirable  devotional 
lyric  poet  in  the  English  language.'  "  ^^ 

It  must  be  said,  finally,  that  Wesleyan  hymnody 
made  nothing  like  so  wide  an  extra-denominational 
appeal  as  did  the  productions  of  Dr.  Watts.  In  the 
first  place,  it  was  far  above  the  spiritual  level  of  the 
average  man;  secondly,  its  theology  was  denomina- 
tional and  at  times  aggressively  controversial ;  third- 
ly, while  Watts  was  universally  respected,  by  Church- 
men and  Dissenters  alike,  the  Wesleys  were  regarded 
outside  their  own  circle  as  religious  cranks :  they  be- 
longed to  "the  people  called  Methodists."  As  a  re- 
sult of  these  things,  Wesleyan  h^^mns  found  their 
way  slowly  and  with  difficulty  into  general  popular- 
ity and  esteem. 

In  America  a  great  revival  flamed  out  in  1800, 
one  feature  of  which  was   the  camp  meeting.     Al- 

"  Benson,  op.  cit.,  p.  353. 


40  Practical  Hyrrmology 

though  this  revival  began  under  Presbyterian  aus- 
pices, Methodists  were  not  long  in  gaining  practical 
control  of  it,  partly  because  the  Presbyterian  clergy 
of  the  State  (Kentucky)  held  aloof.  But  a  his- 
torian ^^  of  1847  insists  that  the  Methodist  pre- 
dominance was  gained  largely  through  hymns  and 
enthusiastic  singing.  Before  the  meeting  had  well 
started,  the  fervor  of  the  people  grew  so  intense  that 
spontaneous  song  began  to  be  a  feature  of  the  serv- 
ices. A  brother  or  sister,  under  stress  of  deep  spir- 
itual emotion,  would  arise  and  sing  extemporane- 
ously, composing  words  out  of  Scripture  or  every- 
day speech,  and  interlarding  the  performance  with 
frequent  Selahs !  and  Hallelujahs!  And  so  in  this 
meeting  a  new  type  of  hymn  was  developed,  under 
Methodist  auspices, — the  Camp  Meeting  Hymn.  It 
deals  with  the  rescue  of  the  sinner  from  hell  fii-e,  it 
exhorts  the  backslider,  it  paints  luridly  the  flames 
of  Tophet,  it  dazzles  crudely  with  attempts  to  de- 
scribe the  glory  of  heaven.  Numbers  of  hymns  of 
this  character  have  come  down  to  us,  and  some  are 
still  used  in  our  churches.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
many  of  them  are  to  be  found  among  the  negro 
"spirituals," — more  or  less  altered,  of  course, — but 
still  preserving  the  distinguishing  traits  of  their 
nativity. ^^ 


=^  Robert  Davidson,  quoted  by  Benson,  op.  cit.,  p.  292. 
"  For  the  words  of  one  of  these  songs,  see  p.  68. 


Historical  Sketch  41 

As  the  camp  meeting  gave  way  to  the  more  for- 
mal and  decorous  protracted  meeting  and  sunmier 
assembly,  these  crude  hymns  were  displaced  by  the 
"Gospel  Hymn,"  associated  intimately  with  the 
names  of  D^^'ight  L.  Moody  and  Ira  D.  Sankey.*^ 
"For  under  any  circumstances  the  love  of  ^popular' 
song  abides.  The  same  streak  in  human  nature 
that  delights  in  the  strains  of  the  music  hall  de- 
mands the  'spiritual  song*  of  the  same  type.  And 
possibly  an  element  that  conscientiously  flees  the  as- 
sociations of  the  music  hall  is  the  most  insistent  upon 
a  compensatory  light  music  in  the  Sunday  school 
and  the  church."  -^ 

We  pass  now  to  consider  the  Evangelical  Revival 
under  George  Whitefield.  In  1741  Whitefield  and  the 
Wesleys  had  a  sharp  doctrinal  disagreement,  and 
parted  company.  The  former  sprang  into  promi- 
nence at  once  as  a  leader  on  the  Calvinistic  side ;  but, 
while  he  was  a  man  of  wonderful  personality,  he 
lacked  the  Wesleys'  ability  for  organization  and 
sought  merely  to  preach  the  Gospel.  The  evangelical 
revival,  nevertheless,  caught  some  of  the  glow  of  re- 
ligious enthusiasm  from  the  Methodist  movement, 
developed  its  own  school  of  writers,  and  set  a  definite 
type    of   evangelical   hymnody.      Whitefield's   hymn 

"Sankev's  "Mv  Life  and  the  Story  of  tlie  Gospel  Hymns" 
(Sunday  School' IMmes  Co.,  Philadelphia,  1906)  is  of  great 
interest;  cf.  also  below,  pp.  48-49. 

"  Benson,  op.  cit.,  p.  298. 


42  Practical  HyTwnology 

book  was  published  iii  1753.  It  contained  twenty 
Wesle^-an  hymns,  but  more  from  Dr.  Watts.  White- 
field's  ideal  combined  Watts'  sober  dignity  and  the 
fervor  and  enthusiasm  of  the  Wesleys.  This  hymnal 
was  reprinted  thirty-six  times  between  1753  and  1796 
and  exercised  a  wide  contemporary  influence  in  Eng- 
land. It  is  important  to  note  that  the  early  evan- 
gelical clergy  of  the  Church  of  England  were  strong- 
ly drawn  to  this  book,  which  thus  became  one  of  the 
foundation  stones  of  the  earlier  group  of  Episcopal 
hymnals.  The  most  important  of  this  group  was  the 
"Olney  H^^mns",  published  in  1779  by  John  Newton, 
curate  of  Olney,  and  containing  two  hundred  and 
eighty  of  his  own  hymns,  with  sixty-eight  by  his 
friend  William  Cowper.  The  appeal  of  this  book  was 
instantaneous  and  wide,  and  some  of  its  hymns  are 
still  cherished  by  Christians  everywhere.^^ 

Among  American  Baptists  the  adoption  of  the 
Whitefield  hymnody  was  delayed,  principally  because 
of  the  popularity  of  Dr.  Watts,  and  also  by  reason 
of  the  addiction  of  many  churches  to  psalm  singing. 
But  the  evangelical  hymns  were  actually  introduced 

*  For  example,  Newton's  "How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus 
sounds";  Glorious  things  of  Thee  are  spoken";  "Safely  through 
another  week";  "Approach,  my  soul,  the  mercy-seat";  "Come, 
my  soul,  thy  suit  prepare";  "Quiet,  Lord,  my  froward  heart"; 
"While  with  ceaseless  course  the  sun";  and  Cowper's  "O  for 
a  closer  walk  with  God";  "God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way"; 
"There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood";  "Sometimes  a  light 
surjjrises";  "Jesus,  where'er  Thy  people  meet";  "Hark,  my 
soul,  it  is  the  Lord";  "The  Spirit  breathes  upon  the  Word." 


Historical  Sketch  48 

quite  generally  into  Baptist  churches  before  Presby- 
terians and  Congregationalists  had  come  from  under 
Watts'  spell,  and  while  the  Episcopalians  were  still 
chanting  psalms  and  the  Dutch  Reformed  bodies  sing- 
ing **Dienet  dem  Herrn  mit  Freuden  ;  kommt  vor  Sein 
Angesicht  mit  Froldocken."  A  large  number  of 
hymnals  made  their  appearance,  once  the  evangelical 
hymnody  was  definitely  accepted  by  Baptists.  Rip- 
pon's  "Selection,"  to  which  reference  has  already 
been  made  (pp.  28-29),  was  reprinted  in  this  country 
in  1792.  In  the  West  and  South,  "The  Baptist 
Hymn  Book"  (W.  C.  Buck,  Louisville,  1842)  was 
widely  used.  In  1843  "The  Psalmist"  appeared  from 
a  Boston  publishing  house.  One  of  its  compilers  was 
S.  F.  Smith,  author  of  "America."  This  book,  con- 
taining eleven  hundred  and  eighty  hynms,  marked  a 
decided  advance  in  Baptist  hymnody.  It  gave  Bap- 
tists the  precedence  over  other  denominations  in 
definitely  abandoning  the  period  of  compromise  be- 
tween psalms  and  hymns,  and,  furthermore,  it  rather 
scorned  the  Baptist  predilection  for  trashy  songs. 
In  the  South  it  was  not  a  success,  because  of  the 
omission  of  a  number  of  popular  hymns.  In  1850 
Dr.  Richard  Fuller  and  Dr.  J.  B.  Jeter  published 
these  hymns  as  a  supplement  to  "The  Psalmist."  But 
in  1851  the  Southern  Publication  Society  issued  "The 
Baptist  Psalmody",  and  this  collection,  with  Sidney 
Dyer's  "Southwestern  Psalmist"  (Louisville),  prac- 


44  Practical  Hymnology 

ticallj  closed  the  field  in  the  South  to  the  Boston 
publication. 

In  1832  a  hymn  book  of  a  new  type  appeared, 
whose  editors  were  Thomas  Hastings,  a  Presbyterian, 
and  Lowell  Mason,  a  Congregationalist.  These  men 
attempted  to  work  a  reformation  in  church  music 
by  articles  and  lectures,  singing  schools,  and  the 
training  of  choirs  in  the  leadership  of  congregational 
singing.  Their  book,  "Spiritual  Songs  for  Social 
Worship",  sought  to  provide  w^ords  and  music 
adapted  to  the  ability  of  the  average  man  in  the 
pew,  with  especial  emphasis  upon  devoutness  and 
spirituality.  The  book  was  deservedly  popular,  and 
its  beneficent  influence  is  still  widely  felt,  for  among 
the  original  hymns  it  contained  were  Hastings'  "Hail 
to  the  brightness  of  Zion's  glad  morning",  S.  F. 
Smith's  "The  morning  light  is  breaking",  and  Ray 
Palmer's  "My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee".  Mason's 
tunes  (some  of  them  arrangements  from  musical 
classics)  are  universally  beloved — and  used.  The 
following  brief  list,  in  which  the  names  of  the  respec- 
tive tunes  appear  in  the  parentheses,  will  show  how 
deeply  all  denominations  are  indebted  to  Lowell 
Mason  for  his  reverent,  devotional,  churchly  music  :'^ 
"O  day  of  rest  and  gladness"  (Mendebas)  ;  "Safely 
through    another   week"    (Sabbath);    "Hark,   what 

^*  For  interesting  accounts  of  tunes  as  well  as  poems,  consult 
"llie  Story  of  the  Hymns  and  Tunes,"  Brown  and  Butterworth 
(American  Tract  Society,  New  York,  1906). 


Historical  Sketch  45 

mean  these  holy  voices"  (Harwell);  "Joy  to  the 
world"  (Antioch)  ;  "When  I  survey  the  wondrous 
Cross"  (Hamburg)  ;  "Come,  let  us  join  our  cheer- 
ful songs"  (Azmon);  "There  is  a  fountain"  (Cow- 
per)  ;  "i\^y  faith  looks  up  to  Thee"  (Olivet)  ;  "Near- 
er, my  God,  to  Thee"  (Bethany)  ;  "O  could  I  speak 
the  matchless  worth"  (Ariel)  ;  "Father,  whate'er  of 
earthly  bliss"  (Naomi)  ;  "Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds" 
(Dennis);  "My  soul,  be  on  thy  guard"  (Laban)  ; 
"If  through  unruffled  seas"  (Selvin)  ;  "Go,  labor  on" 
(Ernan)  ;  "Work,  for  the  night  is  coming"  (Work 
Song)  ;  "From  Greenland's  icy  mountains"  (Mis- 
sionary Hymn);  "God  is  the  refuge  of  His  saints" 
(Ward). 

We  have  now  to  consider  the  Romantic  Movement 
of  the  early  nineteenth  century  in  its  relation  to 
hymnology.  Among  the  poets  of  this  remarkable 
period  who  wrote  hymns  and  religious  poetry  w^re 
Thomas  Moore,^^  Byron,  Wordsworth,  Coleridge, 
Scott,  and  Shelley.  Of  course  these  men  wrote  sacred 
song  only  incidentally,  and  yet  their  example  w^as 
not  without  its  immediate  effect  upon  the  lesser  poets 
of  the  day.  There  was  a  general  efTort  made  to  put 
poetic  feeling  and  literary  art  more  completely  at  the 
service  of  hymn  writing.  The  real  leader  of  this 
new  movement  was   Bishop   Reginald   Heber.     The 

'"Author  of  "Come,  ye  disconsolate,"  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful devotional  poems  ever  written. 


46  Practical  Hyrrmology 

claim  has,  indeed,  been  made  that  every  hymn  he 
wrote  is  today  in  common  use.  His  book,  "Hymns 
written  and  adapted  to  the  weekly  church  service  of 
the  year",  was  published  posthumously  in  1827 ;  and, 
representing,  as  it  does,  the  culmination  of  the  liter- 
ary movement,  it  offered  a  new  standard  of  hym- 
nody, — pure  devotion  accommodated  to  the  church 
year  and  expressed  with  poetic  dignity. ^^ 

One  of  the  most  important  results  of  Heber's  work 
was  the  turning  of  the  tide  of  hymn  singing  in  the 
Church  of  England.^^  Here,  at  last,  were  beautiful 
hymns,  composed  by  a  good  Tory  churchman, — 
hymns  that  recognized  the  holy  days  of  the  church 
year,  and  that  removed  from  hymnody  the  undig- 
nified "taint"  of  Methodism  and  Evangelicalism. 

Throughout  this  period  of  literary  renaissance 
Baptists  clung  to  their  homiletical  hymnody, ^^  al- 
though John  Curtis  published  in  1827  a  rather  un- 
wieldy Baptist  hymnal,  containing  songs  by  Cole- 
ridge, Scott,  Byron,  Moore,  and  Bishop  Heber.  The 
modern  period  of  Baptist  hymnody  may  be  said  to 
have  begun  in   1858,  when  the  Particular  Baptists 

"  Among  Heber's  greatest  hymns  the  following  may  be  men- 
tioned: "Holy,  Holy,  Holy";  "The  Son  of  God  goes  forth  to 
war";  "Brightest  and  best  of  the  sons  of  the  morning"; 
"Bread  of  the  world,  in  mercy  broken";  "From  Greenland's 
icy  mountains";  "When  thro'  the  torn  sail  the  wild  tempest  is 
streaming";  "Hosanna  to  the  living  Lord";  "God  that  madest 
earth  and  heaven." 

"  Cf.  also  p.  50. 

"  See  p.  28. 


Historical  Sketch  47 

published  "Psalms  and  Hymns  prepared  for  the  use 
of  the  Baptist  Denomination."  This  book,  with  a 
"Supplement",  issued  some  twenty  years  later,  frank- 
ly aimed  at  a  high  literary  standard,  and  contained 
hymns  by  a  number  of  the  best  writers  of  the  time. 
In  1866  Mr.  Spurgcon  issued  "Our  own  hymns",  a 
book  which  w^as  quite  widely  used. 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  led  the  way,  in  this  country, 
to  real  congregational  singing.  His  "Plymouth  Col- 
lection of  Hymns  and  Tunes"  (1855)  did  more  to 
take  hymn  singing  out  of  the  hands  of  the  choir  and 
put  it  where  it  belongs  than  any  other  book  ever 
published.  Many  Baptist  and  Presbyterian  churches 
adopted  it,  though  it  was  issued,  of  course,  under 
Congregationalist  auspices. 

Mention  must  be  made  here,  sadly,  of  another 
pioneer  of  this  period.  Dr.  Charles  S.  Robinson,  who 
possesses  the  unenviable  distinction  of  being  patron 
saint  to  the  commercial  "hymn"  writers  of  the  pres- 
ent day.  Dr.  Robinson  made  a  business  of  hymn 
book  compilation,  and  during  the  years  1862-1892 
he  published  as  many  as  fifteen  books.  "Dr.  Robin- 
son found  his  opportunity  in  the  remissness  of  the 
church  authorities  in  meeting  the  needs  of  the  time. 
Incidentally  his  labors  proved  very  profitable  to  him 
and  his  publishers  and  unhappily  proved  a  great 
stimulus  to  the  commercial  side  of  hymn  book  mak- 
ing.   And  a  commercialized  Hymnody  is  not  a  pleas- 


48  Practical  Hymnology 

ant  object  of  contemplation  to  any  one  who  cares  for 
the  sanctities  or  the  best  interests  of  public  wor- 
ship".34 

We  come  now  to  the  "Gospel  Hymn",  which  may 
be  regarded  as  an  offset  to  the  Literary  Hymn.  The 
former  is  the  lineal  descendant  of  the  old  Camp 
Meeting  Hymn  and  grew  at  least  partly  out  of  the 
evangelistic  work  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  organized  in 
Boston  in  1851.  Tourjee,  Phillips,  Moody,  Doane, 
Bliss,  Sankey,  and  others,  brought  the  Gospel  Hymn 
into  wide  popularity  during  the  succeeding  years. 
But  Moody's  evangelistic  campaigns  did  more,  per- 
haps, to  create  the  tremendous  demand  for  these 
hymns  than  any  other  agency.  This  demand  grew 
so  great  that  "Gospel  Hymns  and  Sacred  Songs", 
published  by  Bliss  and  Sankey  in  1875,  was  followed 
the  next  year  by  "Gospel  Hymns,  No.  2";  and  two 
years  later,  by  "Gospel  Hymns,  No.  3".  The  series 
ended  with  "Gospel  Hymns,  No.  6",  issued  in  1891. 
In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  "Gospel  Hymns  1  to  6" 
is  a  book  of  varied  merit.  There  are  in  it  long 
stretches  of  the  dreariest  sort  of  uninspired  dull- 
ness, illuminated  here  and  there  by  a  genuine  hymn. 
This  statement  applies  especially  to  the  first  part 
of  the  book;  for  the  last  two  or  three  hundred 
hymns  are,  with  a  few  exceptions,  deeply  and  justly 
loved  by  many  thousands  of  Christians  everywhere. 

"Benson,  op.  cit.,  p.  480. 


Historical  Sketch  49 

"It  was  the  lack  of  any  educational  idea  or  de- 
velopment in  the  'Gospel  Hymns'  school  of  Hymnody 
that  has  caused  its  rapid  deterioration.  Countless 
imitators  of  Gospel  Hymns  were  raised  up,  without 
the  inspiration  and  sometimes  without  the  unmixed 
motives  of  the  leaders.  Every  new  evangelist  fol- 
lowing Moody's  methods  must  have  his  Sankey  and 
his  own  hymn  book.  Moreover,  the  immense  pe- 
cuniary success  of  the  Gospel  Hymns  series  (in  wliich 
Moody  and  Sankey  took  no  share  for  personal  use) 
offered  great  temptations  to  publishers  and  writers, 
and  the  making  of  such  books  soon  became  a  trade. 
They  deteriorated  partly  because  the  standard  of 
popular  music  and  verse  descended  to  the  rag-time 
level,  and  partly  because  it  is  simpler  to  deal  with 
the  great  public  on  its  own  plane,  or  a  little  below 
it,  than  to  attempt  to  uplift  it".^^ 

We  must  turn  back  at  this  point  to  consider  an- 
other great  movement  which  had  its  beginning  in  the 
year  wliich  witnessed  the  culmination  of  the  Literary 
Movement,  and  which  we  may  call  the  Classical,  or 
Oxford,  Revival.  This  revival  arose  within  the 
Church  of  England,  and  Jolin  Keble  was  its  founder. 
His  book,  "The  Christian  Year",  published  in  1827, 
was  rather  a  collection  of  meditative  verse  than  a 
hymnal,  and  its  wide  influence  was  gained  by  the 
poetic  emphasis  placed  upon  the  feasts  and  fasts  of 

"  Benson,  op.  cit.,  p.  490. 


50  Practical  Hymnology 

the  church  year.^^  There  followed  a  closer  study 
of  the  Pra^^er  Book  and  the  Catholic  Breviary,  and 
ere  long  translations  of  the  Latin  h^-mns  contained 
in  the  latter  began  to  appear  and  to  attract  deep 
interest.  The  ultimate  result  was  the  Liturgical 
Hymn.  The  Church  of  England  had,  up  to  that 
time,  regarded  the  hymn  with  disfavor  and  scorn, 
because  it  was  a  mark  of  Dissent.  But  now,  the 
hymn  was  discovered  to  be  Catholic  in  origin;  and 
hymn  singing  in  the  Church  of  England,  stimulated 
by  this  discover}'^,  and  by  the  widely  recognized  worth 
of  Heber's  book,  also  published  in  1827,^^  thence- 
forward rested  upon  an  entirely  different  basis.  The 
new  movement,  moreover,  revealed  to  the  Church  the 
great  stores  of  hitherto  unknown  Latin  and  Greek 
hymns,  which  were  attacked  and  translated  with 
vigor  and  enthusiasm.  Finally,  it  affected  the  mo- 
tive and  content  of  the  English  Hymn,  for  it  firmly 
established  the  Liturgical  Hymn  as  a  distinct  type. 
The  Liturgical  Hymn  is  the  voice  of  the  worshiping 
church,  while  the  Evangelical  Hymn  expresses  the 
aspirations  of  the  individual;  the  Liturgical  Hymn 
relates  Christian  experience  to  the  hour  of  wor- 
ship, the  church  season,  the  sacrament. 

There  was,  of  course,  an  immediate  need  of  new 

'^  Three  of  Keble's  best  loved  hymns  may  be  mentioned: 
"New  every  morn'inj?  is  the  love";  "The  voice  that  breathed 
o'er  Eden";  "Sun  of  my  soul,  Tliou  Saviour  dear." 

"  See  p.  46. 


Historical  Sketch  61 

hymnals.  Space  will  permit  the  mention  of  only  two 
of  tlie  men  who  helped  to  supply  them.  After  de- 
voting years  to  a  patient  study  of  post-classical 
Latin,  John  Mason  Neale  wrote  numerous  articles  on 
ecclesiastical  Latin  poetry  and  made  those  remark- 
able translations  of  Latin  and  Greek  hymns,  so  many 
of  which  are  among  our  most  cherished  songs  to- 
day.^^  Following  the  publication  of  Dr.  Neale's 
translations  (1851),  a  number  of  books  were  issued, 
some  along  the  lines  laid  down  by  Neale,  others  rep- 
resenting the  Evangelical  wing  of  the  Church.  In 
1859  the  Reverend  Francis  H.  Murray  secured  an 
agreement  with  the  owners  of  the  more  widely  used 
of  these  hymnals  to  the  effect  that  they  would  with- 
draw their  respective  books  and  unite  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  a  common  collection.  This  appeared  in  1861, 
under  the  title,  "Hymns  ancient  and  modem  for 
use  in  the  services  of  the  Church".  The  success  of 
this  hymnal  is  to  be  compared  only  with  that  of 
Watts'  publications  and  the  work  of  the  brothers 
Wesley.  It  established  the  type  and  tone  of  Episco- 
palian hymnody  in  England,  and  influenced  in  no 
small  way  the  hymnody  of  Nonconformist  bodies. 

**  The  following  may  be  mentioned:  "The  day  is  past  and 
over";  "Fierce  was  the  wild  billow";  "All  glory,  laud,  and 
honor";  "The  day  of  resurrection";  "Come,  ye  faithful,  raise 
the  strain";  "Christian,  dost  thou  see  them";  "Jerusalem  the 
golden";  "Christ  is  made  the  sure  foundation";  "Safe  home, 
safe  home  in  port";  "O  happy  band  of  pilgrims";  "Alleluia, 
song  of  gladness";  "O  come,  O  come,  Emmanuel";  "For  thee, 
O  dear,  dear  country." 


52  Practical  Hymnology 

In  America,  translations  of  two  Latin  hymns 
were  published  in  1840,  and  during  the  subsequent 
3'ears  numerous  others  appeared  and  were  speedily 
given  place  in  hymnals  of  all  denominations.  Upon 
Baptists  the  Oxford  influence  made  only  a  feeble 
impression,  and  the  Baptist  hymn  books  of  the  lat- 
ter 3^ears  of  the  nineteenth  century  were  evangelical 
and  homiletical,  rather  than  liturgical. 

In  conclusion,  we  must  note  some  of  the  charac- 
teristics of  twentieth  century  hymnody. 

Firstly,  although  revival  influences  have  pro- 
foundly affected  hymnody  since  the  beginning,  and 
never  more  so  than  during  the  past  ten  or  fifteen 
years,  very  few  of  the  current  evangelistic  songs 
have  found  their  way  into  real  hymnals,  for  two  rea- 
sons: first,  they  are  of  such  very  poor  quality;  sec- 
ond, the  most  popular  ones  are  protected  by  strict 
copyrights.  Some,  indeed,  are  so  precious  to  their 
perpetrators  that  they  are  guarded  by  international 
copyrights ! 

In  the  next  place,  the  more  exacting  literary  stand- 
ards set  by  the  Literary  Movement  have  driven  out 
of  circulation  many  hymns  of  inferior  workmanship. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  recent  years  the  lit- 
erary level  of  hymn  books  has  been  notably  raised. 
I  refer,  of  course,  to  genuine  hymn  books ;  not  to  the 
collections  of  dance  music  and  doggerel  which  dese- 
crate so  many  of  our  churches  and  Sunday  schools 


Historical  Sketch  58 

today — collections  whose  standards  can  be  improved 
only  by  consuming  fire. — And  in  the  raising  of  the 
literary  standard,  be  it  remembered,  the  devotional 
level  has  itself  been  elevated. 

Again,  with  the  passing  of  the  years,  the  contro- 
versial and  polemic  hymns  of  the  various  denomina- 
tions have,  to  a  very  great  extent,  dropped  out  of 
currency,  and  the  general  body  of  hymns  sung  by  all 
denominations  alike  has  steadily  increased. 

It  must  he  noted,  further,  that  new  ideas  of  re- 
ligion and  the  multiplication  of  sects  and  creeds 
have  had  their  effect  upon  hymnody.  There  is  a 
growing  use  of  vernacular  hymns  in  Catholic 
churches,  and  hymn  singing,  with  a  real  hymn  book, 
has  been  widely  introduced  into  the  Quaker  meeting. 
And  here  is  John  Hunter,  of  Glasgow,  publishing 
"HA^mns  of  Faith  and  Life",  and  eschewing  such  dog- 
matic statements  as  "God  in  three  Persons,  blessed 
Trinity",  and  setting  the  divineness  of  the  present 
life  over  against  evangelical  "otherworldliness".  This 
book,  issued  in  1889,  was  the  forerunner  of  much  in 
present  day  hymnody.  Let  us  take  one  example, 
"The  Pilgrim  Hymnal"(l904),  published  under  Con- 
gregationalist  auspices.  The  convictions  of  a  large 
number  of  leading  men  in  the  denomination  were  as- 
certained by  a  questionnaire,  and  the  book  was  thus 
made  up  with  some  two  hundred  men  acting  as  ad- 
visers.     Here   are   some   of   the   characteristics    of 


54  Practical  Hymnology 

this  intensely  modem  hymnal:  First,  there  is  an 
effort  to  be  strictly  "up  to  date"  in  terminology. 
Second,  the  idea  of  God's  presence  h^re  is  empha- 
sized, as  against  the  older  conception  of  His  remote- 
ness, of  His  enthronement  in  the  heavens.  Third, 
there  is  an  indefiniteness  as  to  the  person  and  na- 
ture of  Christ.  Fourth,  the  whole  tone  of  the  book 
is  distinctly  non-ecclesiastical.  Fifth,  activity,  serv- 
ice, are  stressed,  instead  of  inward  experience.  Sixth, 
hymns  that  deal  with  our  probationary  relation  to 
the  future  life  are  avoided.  Seventh,  and  especially 
characteristic,  not  only  of  this  particular  book,  but 
of  the  new  h^^mnody  in  general,  social  servdce  and 
humanitarianism  loom  large. 

And  so,  while  our  grandfathers  and  grandmothers 
sang  "When  I  can  read  my  title  clear",  the  present 
generation  is  singing  "Where  cross  the  crowded  ways 
of  life",  and  the  hymmody  of  social  service,  of  de- 
mocracy, of  concern  for  those  not  in  the  Church,  has 
come  into  vigorous  being.  Indeed,  so  far,  this  social, 
democratic  tendency  is  the  twentieth  century's  con- 
tribution to  h3'mnody.  Praise  and  service  now  go 
hand  in  hand. 

George  Mathcson,  author  of  that  matchless  hymn, 
"O  Love  that  wilt  not  let  me  go",  made  this  state- 
ment a  few  years  ago :  ^^  "To  my  mind  they  [our 
hymns]   have  one  great  defect;  they  lack  humani- 

"  Quoted  by  Benson,  op.  cit.,  p.  588. 


Historical  Sketch  55 

tarianism.  There  is  any  amount  of  doctrine  in  the 
Trinity,  Baptism,  Atonement,  or  the  Christian  life 
as  such,  but  what  of  the  secular  life — the  infirmary, 
the  hospital,  the  home  of  refuge?  ...  I  don't  think 
our  hymns  will  ever  be  what  they  ought  to  be,  until 
we  get  them  inspired  by  a  sense  of  the  enthusiasm  of, 
and  for,  humanity.  It  is  rather  a  theological  point, 
perhaps,  but  the  hymnists  speak  of  the  surrender  to 
Christ.  Tliey  forget  that  Christ  is  not  simply  an  in- 
dividual. He  is  Head  of  a  body,  the  body  of  human- 
ity ;  and  it  no  longer  expresses  the  idea  correctly  to 
join  yourself  to  Christ  only;  you  must  give  yourself 
to  the  whole  brotherhood  of  man  to  fulfil  the  idea". 
Contemporary  hymnody  is  adapting  itself  more 
and  more  every  day  to  this  ideal  of  worship  and 
service;  of  reverent  love  for  God,  plus  energetic  ac- 
tivity for  the  good  of  the  weak  and  sinful ;  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving  for  blessings  and  for  salvation,  to- 
gether with  earnest  striving  to  bring  in  now,  in  the 
hearts  of  all  men  everywhere,  the  kingdom  of  our 
heavenly  Father. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE     CHEAP        HYMN 


THERE  are,  perhaps,  a  number  of  reasons, 
worthy  and  otherwise,  for  the  suiging  of 
hymns  in  religious  services.  Variety  must  be  im- 
parted to  the  program,  or  the  people  will  be  bored; 
the  dozing  members  of  the  congregation  must  be 
stirred  from  the  borderland  of  slumber  by  an  im- 
pressive noise ;  the  entrance  of  certain  late-comers 
must  be  softened  and  covered  by  the  general  partici- 
pation of  the  punctual  in  some  sort  of  exercise;  the 
main  point  of  the  sermon  must  be  presented  from 
another  angle;  the  choir  must  be  permitted  to  dis- 
play its  abilities;  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  must 
be  extended  without  the  embarrassment  of  silence; 
new  members  must  be  escorted  to  the  front  bench  by 
music.  But  there  is  only  one  fundamental  reason  for 
the  singing  of  hymns,  and  that  is  that  the  people  may 
worship  God. 

"God  is  a  Spirit :  and  they  that  worship  him  must 
worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth".  Those  who  be- 
lieve that  statement  of  Scripture  have  witnessed 
with  genuine  regret  and  sadness  the  growing  popu- 

56J 


The  Cheap  ''Hymn'*  tSI 

larity  of  cheap  ^  "hymn"  books.  During  the  past  ten 
or  fifteen  years  these  books  liave  poured  forth  from 
publishing  houses  and  spread  over  our  country  in 
uncounted  myriads.  In  the  "Foreword"  to  one  of 
the  most  widely  used  of  these  publications  there  are 
two  sentences  which  may  be  quoted  to  convince  pos- 
sible doubters :  "The  author  of  this  collection  has 
had  large  experience  in  compiling  song  books.  His 
books  have  gone  into  churches  and  Sunday  schools  by 
the  millions".  And  he  is  only  one  member  of  a  con- 
siderable fraternity. 

It  has  already  been  suggested  (in  the  Preface) 
that  the  ignorance  and  indifference  of  pastor  and 
people  are  partly  responsible  for  this  most  deplorable 
condition.  The  consideration  of  hymns  and  hymn 
singing  has  been  neglected  shamefully,  in  view  of  the 
fact,  which  can  not  be  disputed,  that  the  worship  of 
God  by  the  congregation  is  limited,  in  most  churches, 
to  the  singing  of  the  three  or  four  hymns  used  in 
the  course  of  the  service.  Now,  worship  is  too  im- 
portant and  vital  an  exercise  to  be  veiled  by  the  cob- 
webs of  careless  disregard  and  slothfulness.  When 
a  new  minister  is  to  be  called,  we  consider  long  and 
earnestly  his  past  career,  his  successes  and  failures, 
his  ability  as  a  preacher,  his  personal  gifts,  etc.  We 
pray  about  the  matter  and  beg  the  Divine  guidance 

^  The  term,   "cheap,"   refers  tliroughout  to  quality   and   not 
price. 


58  Practical  Hymnology 

in  selecting  the  right  man.  All  this  is  as  it  should 
be.  But  when  we  feel  the  need  of  a  new  hymnal,  we 
submit  the  worship  of  God  to  some  slick-tongued 
agent  who  usually  carries  along  a  load  of  specious 
holiness  and  counterfeit  piety  as  excess  baggage,  take 
his  word  for  the  wonders  of  his  hymn  book,  buy  the 
book,  forthwith  forgot  about  worsliiping  God  in 
spirit  and  in  truth,  and  begin  to  "worship"  Him  in 
ragtime  and  in  jig.  Our  ancestors  were  so  consider- 
ate of  the  proprieties  of  the  sanctuary  that  for  cen- 
turies they  used  only  the  actual  words  of  Scripture 
in  their  songs.  We,  now,  will  use  anything,  be  it 
never  so  cheap  and  unholy. 

There  are  some  other  reasons  for  the  rapid  ad- 
vance of  cheap  "hymns"  into  popular  favor,  which  it 
will  be  well  to  note. 

In  the  first  place,  they  are  extensively  and  very 
shrewdly  advertised.  And  this  advertising  is  not 
done  through  newspapers  in  any  large  degree.  At 
nearly  every  denominational  gathering  (I  speak  par- 
ticularly of  Baptists  here)  cheap  books  are  used, — 
are  "furnished"  by  the  publisher.  How  generous! 
For  example,  a  certain  book  was  "furnished"  for  a 
recent  meeting  of  North  Carolina  Baptist  State  Con- 
vention. A  few  days  after  the  Convention  had  closed, 
a  communication  appeared  in  the  Baptist  State 
paper  from  the  pastor  of  the  church  in  which  the 
Convention  had  met,  to  the  effect  that  he  had  for- 


The  Clieay  "Hz/rrm*'  59 

gotten  to  announce  that  the  books  furnished  by  Bro. 
So-and-So  were  for  sale  at  such  and  such  a  price! 
Two  or  three  years  ago  I  was  invited  to  conduct  the 
music  at  an  important  denominational  gathering  in 
another  State.  Some  weeks  before  the  time  set  for 
the  meeting  I  received  a  letter,  written  with  evident 
embarrassment,  opining  that,  inasmuch  as  Bro. 
Blank  had  kindly  agreed  to  furnish  hymn  books,  I 
would  probably  like  to  be  excused! 

Now  the  simple  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  all  this 
generous  "furnishing"  is  done  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
advertising  the  book;  and  no  man  can  dispute  the 
effectiveness  of  the  method.  Of  course,  no  publisher 
with  the  slightest  regard  for  the  proprieties  and 
sanctities  of  worship  would  think  for  a  moment  of 
advertising  in  such  a  manner;  but  the  cheap  "hymn" 
book  publishers,  not  being  famous  for  the  possession 
of  this  quality,  are  but  running  true  to  type  in  pious- 
ly "furnishing"  with  a  view  to  remuneratively  sell- 
ing. 

Not  only  are  cheap  books  advertised  at  denomi- 
national gatherings,  but  nearly  every  evangelistic 
singer,  so  far  as  my  observation  goes,  uses  them, 
and  many  sell  them.^  Dear  reader,  have  you  ever  lis- 
tened to  a  quack  doctor  expatiating  upon  the  excel- 
lencies of  his  nostrum?  If  so,  you  have  invariably 
heard   him    conclude    something  like   this:      "Now, 

*Cf.  Dr.  Benson's  remarks,  quoted  above,  p.  49. 


60  Practical  Hymnology 

friends,  you  can  find  out  all  about  what  ails  you, 
and  how  to  cure  it,  in  my  little  book  here ;  price  only 
fifty  cents."  Were  you  ever  among  those  present  at 
an  exhibition  of  mind- reading?  If  so,  you  were  ex- 
posed to  some  such  peroration  as  this:  "Now, 
friends,  you  can  find  out  all  about  my  wonderful 
powers,  and  how  you  may  develop  similar  gifts,  by 
a  perusal  of  my  little  book  here;  price,  only  fifty 
cents."  Neither  the  quack  doctor  nor  the  mind- 
reader  could  be  induced  upon  any  consideration  to 
invade  the  house  of  God  with  their  books ;  but  the 
professional  singer  hails  the  opportunity,  and  he  is 
quite  willing  to  degrade  and  prostitute  the  sanctuary 
and  defile  the  worship  of  God  by  howling  his  wares 
from  the  very  Holy  of  Holies.  Jesus,  once  upon  a 
time,  with  a  scourge,  drove  from  the  temple  the 
money-changers,  and  those  that  bought  and  sold  iri 
His  Father's  House. 

In  some  sections  of  the  South  "singing  conven- 
tions" are  quite  popular.  The  people  come  together 
from  all  parts  of  the  surrounding  country,  bring 
the  babies  and  abundant  baskets  of  dinner,  and  spend 
the  day  (or,  sometimes,  several  days)  whooping  and 
squalling  and  bellowing  songs  out  of  sundry  cheap 
books.  Various  "singing  teachers"  are  on  hand,  each 
extolling  the  glittering  merits  of  the  book  for  which 
he  is  agent,  and  vieing  with  his  fellows  in  oily  piety 
and  in  those  acrobatic  and  vulgar  antics  that  are 


The  Cheap  "Hymn''  61 

deemed  necessary  to  the  successful  leadership  of  choir 
and  congregational  singing. 

Individual  "hymns"  receive  valuable  advertising 
by  their  adoption  as  "official"  songs.  For  example, 
the  B.  Y.  P.  U.  of  one  of  the  Southern  States  ex- 
presses its  ideals  through  the  medium  of  a  cheap 
little  ditty,  called  "As  a  Volunteer".— When  the 
Seventy-five  IVljllion  Campaign  was  set  on  foot  by 
Southern  Baptists,  a  certain  gentleman  wrote  a 
"Campaign  Hymn"  which  was  shipped  all  over  the 
South  by  the  bale.  It  was  called  "When  Millions 
come  pouring  in",  and  it  was  of  a  cheapness  and 
sorriness  indescribable.  To  make  bad  matters  worse, 
the  ingenious  gentleman  had  seized  upon  the  music  of 
the  noble  "Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic"  as  a  ve- 
hicle for  his  "poem".  Some  months  ago  one  of  our 
humorous  weeklies  published  "a  page  of  Old  Masters 
as  the  Sunday  Supplement  artists  of  the  present 
time  would  have  painted  them".  Among  these  inter- 
esting pictures  was  "The  Angelus",  with  Mutt  and 
Jeff  as  the  two  figures  in  the  foreground, — the  latter 
in  the  act  of  plunging  a  pitchfork  into  the  unsus- 
pecting anatomy  of  his  friend.  The  "Campaign* 
Hymn",  with  its  superb  borrowed  music  and  its 
jangling  words,  belongs  in  the  same  category  pre- 
cisely. 

Perhaps  the  chief  reason,  however,  for  the  popu- 
larity of  tlie  cheap  "hymn"  is  to  be  found  in  the 


62  Practical  Hymnology 

fondness  for  secular  music  of  the  same  type,  which 
seems  to  be  so  characteristic  of  our  time.  Jazz, 
waltzes,  "Blues",  ragtime,  slushy  sentimentality, 
have  become  the  musical  expression  of  so  many  of 
our  people  outside  the  church,  that  the  same  sort 
of  thing,  with  a  poor,  thin  veneer  of  religion,  is  de- 
manded in  the  church.^  Cheap  secular  songs  have 
secured  such  a  strangle  hold  upon  the  feelings  and 
affections  of  church  members  that  they  can  not  stand 
to  be  deprived  of  their  favorite  musical  and  sentimen- 
tal (not  to  say  intellectual)  nutriment  even  in  the 
place  of  prayer  and  praise.  And  just  as  the  silk- 
shirted  young  gentlemen  of  Tin  Pan  Alley  must  work 
far  beyond  ethical  Union  hours  to  supply  the  demand 
for  secular  twaddle  such  as  "Though  she's  only  a 
moonshiner's  daughter,  say,  boys,  I  love  her  still", 
"I  never  knew  what  a  wonderful  wife  I  had  till  the 
town  went  dry",  and  "If  I  knock  the  L  out  of  Kelly, 
why  he'll  knock  the  'ell  out  of  me",  so  the  prosperous 
members  of  the  Religious  Ragtime  Association  are 
always  happily  grinding  out  new  "hymns",  such  as 
"There's  a  question  we  must  settle  (vote  it  out!)" 
[Tune,  "Here's  to  good  old  Yale,  drink  it  down"], 
"Sinsick  souls  are  dying  fast",  and  "0  get  ye  on  to 
Canaan",  to  supply  the  equally  voracious  demand 
for  "sacred"  twaddle.  New  books  simply  must  be 
published  every  little  while  to  meet  this  demand ;  for, 

'  C/.  pp.  30-31  and  41,  above. 


Th^  Cheap  ''Hymn"'  6S 

somehow,  cheap  songs,  secular  and  sacred,  wear  out 
rather  quickly,  like  cheap  clothes,  and  others  must 
always  be  on  tap  in  a  sufficient  quantity  (quality  ap- 
pears to  be  of  no  importance)  to  guarantee  the 
perpetuity  of  prosperity  for  the  perpetrators  and 
happiness  for  the  users. 

If  some  courageous  person  were  to  urge  these 
publishers  of  sacred  rags  to  start  a  campaign  for  the 
elevation  of  public  taste  in  the  matter  of  songs  for 
the  worship  of  God,  he  would  be  lucky  to  escape  with 
a  whole  skin.  Elevate  public  taste,  indeed!  It  is 
vastly  easier  and  more  profitable  to  pander  to  it ; 
for  if  it  were  elevated,  there  would  soon  be  no  market 
for  cheap  "hymn"  books. 

A  quotation  from  another  "Foreword"  will  show 
clearly  the  feelings  of  these  publishers  and  compilers 
as  to  the  sublime  merits  of  their  wares,  and  ^vill  also 
exhibit  in  all  its  ugliness  the  mercenary  attitude  that 
characterizes  the  whole  fraternity:  "A  lengthy 
foreword  is  unnecessary,  as  the  friends  will  or  should 
examine  a  book  carefully  before  selecting.  This  is 
all  that  we  ask  for  this  book,  and  we  earnestly  seek 
comparison  with  any  hook  in  all  songland.  Many 
months  have  been  devoted  to  careful  selection  from 
multiplied  thousands  of  songs;  faithful  counsel  has 
been  sought  and  obtained  from  faithful  Pastors  and 
experienced  Evangelists  and  Song  Leaders ;  and 
much  money  has  been  expended  in  securing  the  copy- 


64  Practical  Hymnology 

rights  desired — in  fact  not  a  single  song  selected  has 
been  omitted  because  the  price  was  too  high,  although 
large  suttis  were  asked  for  some  of  these  very  popular 
favorites. 

"We  do  not  ask  friends  to  select  this  book  simply 
because  it  has  more  pages  or  a  larger  number  of  se- 
lections than  any  other  book  that  sells  for  the  same 
price,  but  we  do  believe  that  we  have  here  the  hest 
compilation  of  Gospel  Hymns  and  Sunday  School 
Songs  that  has  ever  been  compiled. 

"A  number  of  these  songs  are  herein  published  for 
the  first  time;  examine  these  and  the  others  not  so 
familiar  to  you,  and  you  will  find  that  there  is  not  a 
'filler'  in  the  book".^ 

There  you  have  the  whole  sorry  business,  thought- 
ful reader,  set  forth  in  unmistakable  terms.  And  the 
pious  paragraph  with  which  the  above  "foreword" 
closes  (which  I  have  omitted  in  order  not  to  identify 
the  book)  is  wholly  out  of  place  in  a  discussion  of 
"large  sums"  and  "the  same  price". 

I  know,  of  course,  that  I  shall  be  severely  criticised 
for  calling  in  question  the  disinterested  piety  and 
religious  enthusiasm  of  these  gentry.  That  is  neither 
here  nor  there,  however,  for  the  facts  are  on  my  side. 
Let  us  consider  them. 

Worship  embraces  preaching,  prayer  and  song, 
and  no  man  can  say  which  is  most  important.     Ser- 

*  The  italics  in  this  quotation  are  mine. 


The  Cheap  ''Hymn'*  66 

mons  and  prayers  are  not  turned  out  wholesale  by 
publishing  houses,  copyrighted,  and  hawked  up  and 
down  the  land  by  howling,  prancing  evangelistic 
singers.  Why  should  liymns  be  thus  handled?  When 
a  volume  of  sermons  is  published,  the  author,  or  com- 
piler, does  not  inform  a  listening  and  awestruck  world 
that  he  has  the  best  volume  of  sermons  ever  issued, 
nor  does  he  have  any  occasion  to  refer  to  the  "large 
sums"  asked  for  "popular  favorites".  A  preacher 
who  should  write  sermons  for  money  would  be  justly 
despised  by  everybody.  We  have,  in  our  great  hym- 
nals, songs  which  express  devoutly  and  beautifully 
every  feeling  of  worship  that  can  possibly  arise  in 
the  breasts  of  Christians, — songs  that  grew  out  of 
genuine  spiritual  experience,^  and  not  out  of  the 
desire  for  a  more  impressive  bank  account.  And 
yet,  cheap  "hymn"  writers  continue  to  turn  out 
songs.  Now,  if  the  author  of  a  poem  or  a  tune  wer^ 
really  desirous  of  seeing  his  production  blessed  in 
the  bringing  in  of  the  Kingdom,  he  would  not  be  so 
anxious  to  get  under  the  wing  of  the  great  god  copy- 
right, nor  would  he  ask  "large  sums"  for  the  use 
of  his  precious  ditty  in  a  forthcoming  book.  And 
if  publishers  were  as  interested  in  evangelizing  the 
world  through  hymns  as  they  claim  to  be,  they  would 
not  be  so  eager  to  buy  the  copyrights  of  popular 

^  For  stories  of  the  great  hymns,  consult  Dr.  S.  W.  DuflBeld's 
"English  Hymns:  their  Authors  and  History,"  Funk  and 
Wagnalls,  New  York,  1886. 


66  Practical  Hymnology 

songs  and  to  boost  their  bank  accounts  by  issuing 
new  collections  every  year  or  two. 

The  demand  for  cheap  "hymns"  began  to  be  felt, 
as  has  already  been  suggested,  when  cheap  secular 
music  became  popular,  and  these  song  writers  and 
publishers  are  doing  their  best  (or,  rather,  their 
worst)  to  supply  the  demand.  The  miserable  stuff 
they  turn  out  will  last  only  a  relatively  short  time, 
being  cheap, ^  and  the  Church  or  Sunday  school  will 
be  looking  for  a  new  book.  It  is  always  ready.  A 
short  time  ago  an  advertisement  appeared  in  one 
of  our  religious  papers,  urging  readers  to  send  for 

"a  copy  of  our  new  hymn  book  for  1920,  ' ,  No. 

5' ".  In  other  words,  the  making  of  these  "hymns" 
and  the  publishing  of  these  books  has  become  a  vast- 
ly remunerative  trade,*^  and  those  who  profit  by  it 
are  pushing  it  to  the  limit.  Now,  I,  for  one,  have  no 
objection  to  the  accumulation  of  wealth  by  any  man, 
so  long  as  he  is  honest,  and  so  long  as  he  keeps  his 
hands  off  of  the  service  of  the  sanctuary.  These 
cheap  songs  are  bad  enough  per  se,  in  all  conscience ; 
and  when  to  their  inherent  sorriness  is  added  the  fact 
that  men,  through  them,  are  making  money  out  of  the 
degradation  of  the  worship  of  God,  they  become  un- 
bearable. 

The  small  minority  of  the  tawdry  fraternity  who 


•  Cf.  p.  63. 

'  Cf.  Benson,  quoted  above,  p.  49. 


The  CJu^ap  ''Hymn"  67 

are  not  writing  for  money,  but  wlio  really  think 
they  are  producing  genuine  hymns,  deserve  no  cen- 
sure; rather  they  arc  in  sore  need  of  pity  and  en- 
lightenment. 

The  metliod  of  construction  of  a  cheap  "hymn" 
is  precisely  the  same  as  that  employed  in  the  com- 
position of  the  secular  song  of  the  same  type.  The 
"poet"  gets  an  idea  around  which  to  write  his 
words.  This  idea  is  almost  invariably  expressed 
in  the  chorus,  to  which  the  verses  bear  more  or  less 
relation.^  For  instance,  a  gifted  and  popular  mov- 
ing picture  actor  recently  returned  to  the  United 
States  from  Honolulu.  In  a  conversation  with  one 
of  his  friends  w^th  regard  to  feminine  costume  among 
the  islanders,  he  remarked,  "They  are  wearing  them 
higher  in  Hawaii".  Forthwith  one  of  the  inmates 
of  Tin  Pan  Alley  (referred  to  above)  turned  out 
a  song  upon  that  edifying  theme,  the  chorus  of  which 
insisted  again  and  again,  almost  to  the  point  of 
weariness  and  indecency,  that  they  were  wearing  them 
higher  in  Hawaii.  The  rest  of  the  song  did  not  mat- 
ter. "Love  lifted  me",  "Brighten  the  comer",  and 
"There  is  power  in  the  Blood"  are  fine  examples  of 
"sacred"  songs  composed  after  the  same  fashion. 
The  chorus  is  the  main  feature.  Indeed,  it  is  the 
main  feature  of  nearly  all  cheap  songs,  for  church 

*Cf.,  for  example,  that  egregious  piece  of  slush,  "Just  keep 
sweet,"  the  verses  of  which,  after  the  first,  have  nothing  what- 
ever in  common  with  the  refrain. 


68  Practical  Hymnology 

or  home  or  dance  hall  consumption  (c/.  p.  72,  be- 
low). Any  observant  person  will  notice  at  once, 
when  he  hears  a  song  of  this  type  perpetrated  in 
the  house  of  God,  that  the  congregation  mumbles 
the  verses  and  bellows  the  chorus. 

There  is  a  "negro  spiritual"  that  always  occurs  to 
me  in  this  connection.  It  is  called  "Little  David", 
and  its  words  are  as  follows : 

1.  Little  David  was  a  shepherd  boy, 
He  killed  Goliath  an'-a  shout  for  joy. 
Cho.     Little  David,  play  on  your  harp, 

Hallelu',  Hallelu', 
Little  David,  play  on  your  harp, 
Hallelu! 

2.  Joshua  was  the  son  of  a  Nun, 

He  never  would  stop  till  the  work  was  done. 
Chorus. 

3.  0,  I  tell  you  once,  I  tell  you  tT\ace, 
There  are  sinners  in  hell  for  shootin'  dice. 

Chorus, 

Now,  it  will  be  observed  that  this  classic  deserts 
its  text,  as  it  were.  Surely;  but  that  makes  little 
difference.  Numbers  of  our  cheap  "hymns"  show  a 
like  desertion, — differing  only  in  degree.  Really, 
you  are  supposed  to  say  "Tum-te-tum-te-tum",  etc., 
until  you  arrive  at  the  chorus,  when  you  are  ex- 
pected to  get  under  a  full  head  of  steam  immediately, 


The  Cheap  ''Hymn''  69 

and  roar,  *'Bright-un  the  cor-nur  wMre  you  dre'\ 
etc.,  etc.  It  may  be  remarked,  incidentally,  that 
that  very  popular  song  offers  a  sorry  ideal  to  our 
ambitious  3'oung  people  today. 

The  music  of  the  cheap  "hymn"  now  demands  our 
attention,  and  it  may  be  said  at  the  outset  that  the 
"composers"  are  far  more  responsible  for  the  sorri- 
ness of  the  combined  product  than  the  "poet".  The 
words  of  the  song  may  be  but  poor  doggerel  and  sen- 
timentality ;  the  verses  may  show  only  a  distant  kin- 
ship to  the  chorus;  the  grammar  may  be  (and  often 
is)  nauseating;  but  there  is  always  enough  religion 
about  them  to  give  the  thoughtful  singer  at  least  a 
vague  impression  that  he  is  rendering  something 
which  was  intended  to  be  a  sacred  song.  But  the 
"composers"  have  abandoned  utterly  the  spirit  of 
worship,  and  have  fled,  bag  and  baggage,  to  the 
dance  hall,^  the  musical  comedy,  and  the  cheap  movie 
for  their  inspiration.  The  result  is  that  thousands 
of  our  churches  and  Sunday  schools  are  using  the 
same  sort  of  music  exactly  as  is  jingled  forth  by  the 
electric  piano  at  the  picture  house,  the  pony  ballet  in 
the  theatre,  and  the  jazz  orchestra  in  the  public 
dance  hall.  Of  course  the  music  makes  the  popular- 
ity of  all  songs,  good  and  bad,  and  it  has  been  sug- 
gested already  that  our  people  like  "sacred"  music 

•  At  a  dance  held  two  or  three  years  ago  in  an  Eastern  North 
Carolina  city,  the  orchestra  used  "hymns"  from  one  cheap 
book  the  whole  evening. 


70  Practical  Hymnology 

of  the  ragtime  type  because  of  their  fondness  for 
similar  secular  stuff. 

We  set  great  store,  in  our  moral  teaching,  by  as- 
sociation. The  card  table  is  wrong  because  of  its 
immemorial  connection  with  gambling;  the  pool  table 
is  to  be  shunned  because  it  long  occupied  the  back 
room  of  the  saloon.  Now,  how  can  a  devout  Chris- 
tian worship  God  by  singing  a  waltz  .-^  How  can  a 
sorry  piece  of  ragtime  carry  a  prayer  upward  to  the 
Throne?  How,  in  heaven's  name,  can  a  one-step, 
beslimed  with  the  sensual  postures  of  a  dance  hall, 
make  its  way,  as  the  bearer  of  holy  adoration,  above 
the  earth  and  into  the  pure  air  of  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem? There  is  a  place  for  waltzes,  ragtime  and  one- 
steps,  but  it  is  not  the  church  of  the  living  God. 

Let  me  illustrate.  One  of  the  most  popular  songs 
(for  which  "large  sums"  are  asked)  in  the  repertoire 
of  the  itinerant  singer  is  called  "Saved!  Saved!" 
It  is  a  waltz,  thinly  disguised  by  twelve-eight  time, 
and  a  fairly  good  waltz,  too.  I  have  not  discovered 
the  source  of  the  music  employed  for  the  verses,  but 
the  chorus  is  an  adaptation  of  the  same  portion  of 
that  once  popular  ballad,  "I  wisht  I  wuz  single 
again", — an  adaptation,  it  may  be  said, — which  de- 
parts very  slightly  from  the  original  fount 
of  inspiration.  Play  it  over,  and  be  convinced,  if 
you  doubt.  The  author  of  this  song  liked  its 
music  so  well  that  about  five  years  later  he  repeated 


The  Cheap  ''Hymn''  71 

it  in  another  waltz,  called  "Wonderful  Name".  A 
more  proper  title  would  be  "Wonderful  Similarity". 
No.  2  is  written  in  a  different  key,  but  laying  that 
alteration  aside,  it  is  No.  1,  almost  note  for  note, 
even  down  to  a  sliding  stunt  for  the  alto  in  the 
chorus. 

The  term,  ragtime,  is  technically  used  to  refer  to 
rapid  and  frequent  syncopation.  Ragtime  music  was 
first  popularized  by  Kerry  Mills,  composer  of 
"Whistlin'  Rufus",  "Georgia  Camp  Mcetin'  ",  "Hap- 
py Days  in  Dixie",  etc.  Innumerable  writers  have 
flooded  the  country  with  ragtime,  good  and  bad, 
since  Mills'  day  (some  twenty  years  ago),  and  the 
concocters  of  cheap  "hymns"  have  not  by  any  means 
been  left  behind  the  band  wagon.  Three  or  four 
measures  of  "Brighten  the  comer"  will  illustrate  the 
use  of  syncopation  in  "hymns" : 


^^UM^^^^^^mm 


-I—-, 


Brighten  the  corner  where  you  are;  Brighten  the  corner  where  you  are,  etc, 


The  syllables   -en  of   brighten  and   -ner  of   corner 

are  syncopated  twice  each  in  those  four  measures. ^^ 

Worse,  however,  than  the  waltz  or  the  ragtime, 

^^  For  the  sake  of  clearness  I  have  written  the  second  measure 
simply,  omitting  a  hair-raising  nose  dive  and  spiral  ascent 
for  the  bass,  which  occurs  in  the  printed  song. 


72  Practical  Hymnology 

is  the  jingle,  for  it  scrapes  the  mud  off  the  very 
bottom  of  the  slough  of  cheapness.  And,  strange  to 
say,  the  jingle  is  far  more  popular  for  "sacred" 
than  for  secular  songs.  Here  is  a  sample  (words 
omitted)  : 


m^ 


This  is  a  movement  exceedingly  precious  to  the  souls 
of  our  dear  "hymn"  composers. 

One  more  general  characteristic  of  these  songs 
must  be  noted.  Not  only  do  almost  all  of  them  pos- 
sess a  chorus,  as  the  main  feature  (c/.  p.  67,  above), 
but  that  chorus  is  subjected  to  those  adornments 
and  labors  of  love  that  should  always  distinguish  the 
most  precious  things  in  life.  It  contains  gymnastic 
contortions  for  the  basso,  death-defying  gyrations 
for  the  tenor,  or  double- jointed  circumambulations 
for  the  alto — sometimes,  to  be  sure,  frantic  and 
dangerous  exertions  for  all  three  simultaneously — 
while  the  soprano  bravely  pegs  away  at  the  tune. 
Truly,  it  is  marvelous  and  inspiring  to  hear ! 

These  three  types,  then,  the  waltz,  the  ragtime, 
the  jingle,  with  the  usual  acrobatic  chorus,  will  be 
found  to  make  up  nine-tenths  of  the  cheap  "sacred" 


The  Cheap  ''Hymn''  73 

songs  that  pour  forth  every  year  in  a  muddy  flood 
that  threatens  to  engulf  all  genuine  worship. 

We  may  now  consider  the  publisher's  side  of  the 
question.  He  is  issuing  books  as  a  trade,  just  as  the 
majority  of  song  writers  are  grinding  out  individual 
songs.  He  is  concerned  with  the  prosperity  of  liis 
business,  he  makes  it  a  point  to  keep  in  toucli  with 
the  market,  and  he  estimates  carefully  and  usually 
correctly  how  long  a  new  product  will  last.  He  may 
not  have  admitted,  even  to  himself,  that  the  quality 
of  the  stuff  he  turns  out  determines  its  longevity; 
but  he  knows  that,  somehow,  it  does  not  last  long*, 
and  he  rejoices  thereat,  since  he  can  sell  more 
books.  Let  us  suppose  that  "Sounding  Brass  No. 
1"  was  issued  early  this  year.  Before  the  ink  is  dry 
the  publisher  is  making  his  plans  for  "Sounding 
Brass  No.  2",  to  be  put  on  the  market  as  soon  as 
the  sales  of  S.  B.  No.  1  begin  to  show  a  marked  de- 
cline. His  preparation  includes  the  purchase  of  as 
many  popular  songs  as  he  can  buy,  the  expenditure 
of  "large  sums"  for  the  use  of  those  he  can  not  get 
outright,  careful  investigation  of  the  relative  popu- 
larity of  the  songs  in  S.  B.  No.  1,  "faitliful  counsel 
from  faithful  Pastors  and  experienced  Evangelists 
and  Song  Leaders", — and  counting  of  the  profits. 
When  the  time  is  ripe,  that  is,  when  churches  and 
Sunday  schools  seem  about  ready  to  make  a  change 
in  books,  S.  B.  No.  2  is  sent  forth  with  great  pomp 


74?  Practical  Hymnology 

and  circumstance.  Let  us  glance  at  its  contents. 
It  opens  w4th  a  preface,  or  "foreword",  written  either 
by  the  compiler,  or,  if  his  vocabulary  was  exhausted 
in  extolling  the  merits  of  S.  B.  No.  1,  by  some  very 
influential  minister.  Then  follow  the  songs.  The 
more  popular  ones  from  S.  B.  No.  1  are  reprinted, 
with  enough  new  productions  to  justify  the  change 
in  the  title,  and  to  impart  an  aspect  of  novelty  to 
the  book.  Over  in  the  back,  in  miserable,  small  type, 
and  ignominiously  treated  as  a  sort  of  caudal  ap- 
pendage, are  fifty  or  more  real  hymns  to  serve  as  a 
sop  to  the  feelings  of  that  minority  who  still  believe 
in  spiritual  worship  in  song. 

These  good  hymns  do  not  cost  the  publisher  "large 
sums",  for  they  were  written  for  the  glory  of  God. 
In  many  of  these  books  the  section  (at  the  rear) 
containing  the  real  songs  of  worship  is  headed  "De- 
votional Hymns".  Lo !  the  poor  compilers,  hoist  on 
their  own  petard!  All  hymns  ought  to  he  devotional, 

I  have  before  me  a  cheap  hymnal,  published  two 
years  ago,  in  which  the  genuine  hymns  are  better 
treated  as  to  type  and  are  scattered  through  the 
book.  That  is  a  great  improvement,  as  I  am  glad  to 
admit,  though  to  be  sure  I  should  think  the  good 
hymns  would  prefer  to  flock  by  themselves,  bad  type 
or  no,  rather  than  to  be  surrounded  by  such  sorry 
company. 


The  Cheap  ''Hymn*'  75 

The  process  outlined  above  is  repeated  at  more  or 
less  regular  intervals,  the  market  is  always  flooded 
with  a  steady  stream  of  Sounding  Brasses,  the  prof- 
its pile  up,  and  everybody  is  happy,  except  those 
who  grieve  at  the  spectacle  of  the  worship  of  God 
brought  down  to  the  level  of  the  street  and  the  dance 
hall  by  the  depravity  of  popular  taste  and  the 
willingness  of  writers  and  publishers  to  pander  to  it 
for  the  sake  of  unholy  gain.  "Thou  shalt  not  take 
the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain"  may  surely 
be  paraphrased  to  read,  "Thou  shalt  not  use  un- 
worthily the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  for  the  sake 
of  increasing  thy  store  of  the  mammon  of  unright- 
eousness". 

A  session  with  these  books  under  the  leadership 
of  a  singer  who  loves  them  (for  one  reason  or  an- 
other) is  a  sight  for  the  gods.  The  whole  perform- 
ance would  not  last  one  night  at  any  cheap  vaude- 
ville show  in  the  land.  The  singer  marches  up  on  the 
platform,  cracks  a  few  venerable  jokes,  unlimbers 
his  muscles  and  his  larynx  and  announces  a  "hymn". 
Then,  while  the  audience  turn  over  the  pages  in  the 
search  for  the  gem  with  which  they  are  about  to 
approach  the  throne  of  God,  the  singer  gets  a  few 
more  hand-picked  classics  out  of  his  system.  Every- 
body being  at  last  ready,  the  pianist  reels  off  a  few 
measures  (keeping  time  with  as  much  of  his  anatomy 


76  Practical  Hymnology 

as  he  can  move  without  precipitating  himself  from 
his  seat),  the  people  get  their  feet  into  action,  and 
the  worship  of  God  begins. 

It  continues  until  time  for  the  Scripture,  or  until 
the  jokes  give  out,  or  until  the  singer  grows  weary 
of  waving  his  arms  around  in  the  frantic  effort  to 
keep  the  songs  up  to  good  dance  hall  tempo.  Pleas- 
antries are  exchanged  between  singer  and  audience, 
such  as,  "All  the  good-looking  young  ladies  under 
thirty  are  requested  to  sing  the  next  verse,  the  men 
joining  in  the  chorus",  etc.,  etc.,  etc.  On  a  certain 
Sunday  last  year  the  writer  attended  the  Sabbath 
school  in  one  of  the  greatest  churches  in  the  South. 
The  superintendent,  dissatisfied  with  the  manner  in 
which  the  audience  sang  the  first  "hymn",  proposed 
that  they  should  whistle  it,  which  they  did  with 
alacrity.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  song  was 
a  cheap  jig.  No  one  out  of  a  lunatic  asylum  would 
ever  think  of  suggesting  that  "Jesus,  lover  of  my 
soul"  should  be  whistled  in  a  religious  service. 

Such  performances  are  disgraceful  and  sacrile- 
gious beyond  the  power  of  words  to  express,  and  yet 
they  are  going  on  all  over  the  land,  every  Sunday  in 
the  year. 

We  may  now  examine  the  arguments  usually  ad- 
vanced for  the  use  of  cheap  "hymns". 

Firstly,  "the  books  cost  less  money  than  real 
hymnals".     How  often  have  we  all  heard  that  piece 


The  Cheap  *'Hymn''  Tt 

of  shallow  sophistr}' !  To  be  sure  they  cost  less 
money  at  the  outset.  But  by  the  time  the  church 
or  Sunday  school  has  bought  new  books  two  or  three 
times  in  the  space  of  four  or  five  years,  it  has  spent 
much  more  than  would  have  been  required  for  a  good 
hymn  book  that  would  last  indefinitely. 

Secondly,  "the  people  tire  of  the  *old'  hymns". 
Yes,  they  frequently  do.  And  when  that  happens, 
you  may  be  sure  that  one  or  more  of  three  reasons 
is  responsible.  Either  a  very  few  hymns  have  been 
sung  over  and  over,  or  they  have  been  senselessly 
dragged  to  death  by  a  lazy  choir  and  a  still  lazier 
congregation,  or  some  enemy  of  the  true  worship 
of  God  has  been  sowing  tears.  The  remedy  is,  of 
course,  the  learning  of  more  good  hymns,  a  little 
more  energy  and  spirit  in  choir  and  congregation, 
and  a  cold  shoulder  to  the  enemy. 

Thirdly,  "these  songs  are  not  so  difficult  to  sing 
as  the  standard  hymns".  That  statement,  made  so 
often  in  defense  of  trash,  is  wholly  false,  as  can  be 
proven  by  anybody  who  knows  enough  music  to  sit 
down  at  the  piano  and  play  over  songs  of  both 
types.  "Onward,  Christian  soldiers"  is  very  much 
easier  to  play  and  sing  than  "The  fight  is  on".  The 
lovely  harmony  of  "O  Jesus,  Thou  art  standing"  is 
infinitely  simpler  than  the  cumbersome  waltz  meas- 
ures of  "Let  Jesus  come  into  your  heart".  Examples 
might  be  multiplied  indefinitely.     The  cheap  song, 


78  Practical  Hymnology 

with  its  jingling,  jigging  verses  and  its  rantankerous 
chorus,  requires  considerably  more  musical  (not  to 
say  acrobatic)  ability  for  its  rendition  than  does 
a  devotional,  worshipful  hymn;  and  the  proponents 
of  the  ditty  need  never  attempt  to  substantiate  the 
contrary  to  any  pastor  who  is  at  all  musical,  and 
still  less  to  a  director  of  music  who  can  distinguish 
between  A  flat  and  B  flat. 

We  are  told,  too,  that  the  sentiments  expressed 
in  the  standard  hymns,  "used  and  defended  by  high- 
falutin  folks",  are  over  the  heads  of  the  great  masses 
of  the  people,  who  must,  therefore,  have  songs  of 
a  lower  literary  grade.  I  do  not  believe  that 
wretched  slander,  and  I  challenge  any  jigster  on 
earth  to  prove  it.  There  is  not  a  man  or  woman, 
boy  or  girl,  in  any  of  our  churches  unable  to  com- 
prehend the  meaning  of  "My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee", 
or  "Joy  to  the  world",  or  "The  Homeland",  or 
"Stand  up,  stand  up  for  Jesus",  or  "Day  is  dying 
in  the  West",  or  "The  King  of  Love  my  Shepherd 
is".  "The  defenders  of  this  popular  hymnody  .  .  . 
often  very  gravely  underestimate  the  capacity  of 
the  popular  mind  to  rise  above  vulgar  embodiments 
of  truth  and  to  shake  itself  free  from  perverted  senti- 
mentality".^^ I  should  like  to  alter  Professor 
Pratt's  statement  slightly,  so  as  to  have  it  read,  "The 

"  Pratt,  op.  oit.,  p.  GO. 


The  Cheap  ''Hijmn''  79 

defenders  of  this  popular  hymnody  .  .  .  often  suc- 
ceed in  causing  pastors  and  musical  directors  very 
gravely  to  underestimate",  etc.  Devout  Christians 
may  well  be  insulted  at  such  a  thinly  disguised 
insinuation  of  fecble-niindcdness  as  is  conveyed  by  the 
glib  patter  of  some  book  agent  who  contends  that 
they  can  not  apprehend  the  true  inwardness  of  "In 
the  cross  of  Christ  I  glory"  and  "All  hail  the  power 
of  Jesus'  name". 

A  fourth  argument  employed  with  particular  fre- 
quency and  zest  by  advocates  of  cheap  "hymns"  is 
that  they  stir  up  "the  pep".  They  do.  But  the 
"pep"  thus  engendered  is  a  poor,  specious  counter- 
feit of  that  deep  religious  enthusiasm  aroused  by 
the  hearty  singing  of  a  real  hymn.  It  may  well  be 
doubted  very  seriously  wliether  "pep"  is  a  needful 
commodity  for  religious  bodies,  anyway.  Enthusi- 
asm, zeal,  energy,  are  invaluable,  and  the  more  we 
have  of  them,  the  sooner  will  the  Kingdom  of  God 
become  an  accomplished  fact.  But  "pep"  somehow 
suggests  the  cheering  section  at  a  college  baseball 
game,  or  a  hustling  salesman,  or  a  ranting  chautau- 
qua  lecturer.  Laying  aside,  however,  the  more  or  less 
slender  difference  of  meaning  between  the  words 
"pep"  and  "enthusiasm",  I  maintain  that  the  re- 
sults in  religious  fervor  claimed  for  cheap  songs  may 
not  only  be  equalled,  but  surpassed,  through  the  use 


80  Practical  Hymnology 

of  good  songs. ^"  Not  long  ago  I  received  from  a 
Presbyterian  pastor  a  letter,  one  paragraph  of 
which  is  pertinent  at  this  point:  "I  am  more  im- 
pressed with  the  necessity  for  it  [the  study  of  hym- 
nology] than  ever,  because  I  have  just  closed  a  meet- 
ing for  a  brother  pastor,  a  young  man,  who  is  a  good 
singer  and  a  good  song  leader,  but  I  had  to  tell  him 
perfectly  plainly  that  some  of  the  stuff  he  was  teach- 
ing those  people  to  sing  for  music  and  for  worship 
disgusted  me,  made  a  farce  of  the  whole  thing,  and 
absolutely  sent  me  to  my  sermon  with  every  vestige 
of  real  worship  gone  froni  me.  We  then  took  up 
the  old  hymns  and  the  entire  spirit  of  the  meeting 
changed.  After  he  had  made  them  sing  'Brighten 
the  comer*,  etc.,  I  raised  'There  is  a  fountain  filled 
with  blood,'  and  everybody  got  out  of  the  comer, 
got  together,  began  to  worship,  and  God  came  down 
to  us". 

Pardon  another  personal  experience.  On  a  Sun- 
day morning  last  summer  I  attended  a  large  Baraca 
class  in  a  Southern  city.  The  pianist  told  me  she 
did  not  sympathize  with  my  attitude  toward  popular 
hymnody,  and  that  she  liked  for  the  men  in  the  class 
to  sing  "stirring  songs".  About  fifteen  minutes  later 
we  had  a  "stirring  song"  announced, — that  cheap, 

"Pratt,  op.  cit.,  p.  60,  says:  "They  [the  defenders  of  cheap 
songs]  constantly  mistake  the  zest  of  animal  enjoyment  in  a 
rub-a-dub  rhythm  or  the  shout  of  childish  pleasure  in  a  'catchy' 
refrain   for  real  religious  enthusiasm." 


The  Clieap  ''Ilijmn"  81 

tawdry  march  already  mentioned,  "The  fight  is  on". 
Since  there  were  no  professional  acrobats  in  the  class, 
the  men  simply  looked  at  the  verses,  while  the  lady 
worked  diligently  at  the  piano.  When  they  reached 
the  chorus,  a  few  raised  their  voices  feebly,  and  the 
only  part  of  the  "stirring  hymn"  that  seemed  to 
give  general  satisfaction  was  the  end.  Now,  if  "The 
Son  of  God  goes  forth  to  war"  had  been  the  selec- 
tion, the  state  of  mind  of  the  men  in  that  class  would 
have  been  quite  different  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
hymn. 

The  simple  truth  of  the  matter  is,  of  course,  that 
singers  and  publishers  have  diligently  spread  abroad 
the  miserably  false  idea  that  there  is  no  enthusiasm, 
or  "pep",  in  the  great  hymns;  that  congregations 
can  not  be  aroused  to  spiritual  activity  by  the  "old 
songs" ;  in  short,  that  the  only  remedy  which  can 
cure  a  church  of  religious  lethargy  is  jazz,  waltz,  and 
"sacred"  ragtime.  So  assiduously  has  this  wretched 
and  poisonous  heresy  been  disseminated  that  thou- 
sands of  people  actually  believe  it. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  almost 
universal  use  of  cheap  song  books  by  evangelistic 
singers.  A  protracted  meeting  nowadays  is  frequent- 
ly a  queer  affair,  being  a  sort  of  mixture  of  religion 
and  buffoonery,  the  devout  spirit  of  worship  and 
the  spicy  aroma  of  the  dance  hall,  the  sober  pre- 
sentation of  the  Word  of  God  and  the  vulgar  antics 


S2  Practical  Hymnology 

of  the  vaudeville  clown.  Again  I  beg  to  submit  that 
just  as  many  souls  would  be  saved,  and  saved  far 
more  genuinely,  and  far  more  decently,  if  "Just  as 
I  am,  without  one  plea"  were  sung,  instead  of  "What 
a  gath'ring  that  will  be",  with  its  tinkling  verses 
and  three-ring  circus  chorus. 

Permit  me  to  repeat  that,  in  the  protracted  meet- 
ing, or  in  the  regular  services  of  the  church  or  Sun- 
day school,  more  enthusiasm  and  enthusiasm  of  an 
infinitely  higher  character  can  be  aroused  by  the 
vigorous  singing  of  a  good  hymn  than  by  the 
equally  vigorous  rendition  of  a  poor  one.  And  if 
tenderness,  devoutness,  contrition,  prayerfulness,  are 
to  be  sought  through  the  service  of  song,  nobody  in 
his  right  mind  would  or  could  propose  a  piece  of 
sorry  ragtime  as  the  agent  of  their  stimulation. 

A  recent  issue  of  The  Congregationalist  contains 
the  following  brief  and  forceful  article,  under  the 
heading,  "Better  music  for  the  youth  of  today": 

"Prof.  Augustine  Smith  in  his  leadership  of  the 
music  at  the  International  Council  gave  a  practical 
demonstration  of  how  completely  the  standard  hymns 
of  the  church  lend  themselves  to  worship.  He  showed 
that  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  use  religious  rag- 
time to  the  accompaniment  of  a  trick  pianist  with 
the  leading  of  a  clown  to  make  music  worshipful.  He 
not   only  brought  out  the  message  of  the  musical 


The  Cheap  ''Hymn'*  89 

setting  of  the  hymns,  but  he  also  interpreted  wonder- 
fully the  poets  who  wrote  them.  For  two  or  three 
years  he  has  been  rendering  this  same  sort  of  service 
to  the  country  through  the  conventions  of  the  In- 
ternational Sunday  School  Association.  In  other 
years  the  association  was  not  so  fortunate  in  its 
leadership  because  the  musical  leaders  tried  to  make 
the  music  a  performance  rather  than  an  act  of  wor- 
ship. In  many  of  the  conventions  held  by  the  as- 
sociation also  no  attempt  apparently  was  made  to 
teach  the  delegates  how  to  make  the  music  in  the 
home  church  the  most  worshipful. 

"In  a  large  convention  held  by  another  interde- 
nominational organization  we  could  not  help  con- 
trasting the  music  with  that  led  by  Prof.  Smith  at 
Boston.  The  book  used  was  put  out  by  the  publish- 
ing house  of  the  organization  and  its  preface  was 
written  by  one  of  the  foremost  Christian  leaders. 
The  hymns  in  the  book  are  not  representative  of  the 
best  music  of  the  church,  and  the  singing  was  led 
by  a  man  who  acted  more  the  part  of  a  clown  than 
that  of  a  leader  of  music  in  a  Christian  gathering. 
The  pianist  was  a  trick  player,  whose  'dives'  and  *up- 
percuts'  tended  to  destroy  what  worshipful  spirit 
there  might  have  been  in  the  large  number  of  youth 
present.  The  convention  was  for  young  people.  It 
is  a  crime  when  the  music  of  a  Christian  gathering 
is  treated  as  an  opportunity  for  personal  or  techni- 


84  Practical  Hymnology 

cal  display  and  not  as  a  means  and  an  ideal  of  wor- 
ship for  youth. 

"Prof.  Smith  has  proved  conclusively  that  young 
people  will  sing  heartily  the  best  hymns  of  the  church 
if  they  have  the  proper  leadership.  It  is  time  for 
the  great  interdenominational  organizations  to  de- 
mand that  their  youth  in  the  impressionable  period 
be  given  the  best  music  under  the  most  reverent 
leadership,  not  only  in  order  that  they  may  learn 
how  to  worship,  but  that  they  may  fill  their  memory 
with  hymns  worth  retaining.  We  ought  to  have  a 
change  in  the  kind  of  music  provided  for  our  youth 
and  we  ought  to  have  it  at  once.'* 

Many  thoughtful  Christians  have  deeply  deplored 
the  rapid  growth  of  irreverence  for  sacred  things  and 
sacred  places,  particularly  among  the  younger 
generation.  There  is  no  doubt  in  my  own  mind  that 
this  most  unfortunate  condition  is  due  very  largely 
to  the  irreverent  way  in  which  we  worship  God  in 
song  in  so  many  of  our  meetings.  How,  in  all  seri- 
ousness, can  a  boy  be  expected  to  maintain  a  reverent 
attitude  toward  the  Sunday  morning  service,  when 
the  "hymns"  that  are  sung  are  so  insistently  rem- 
iniscent of  the  dance  he  attended  the  night  before, 
or  of  the  piano  at  the  picture  show  which  he  patron- 
ized the  preceding  week?  If  the  songs,  his  only 
medium  of  participation   in  the  service,  are  jazzy, 


The  Clieap  '*Hyvm''  85 

how  can  his  feeling  toward  the  service  be  reverent? 

Yet  anotlier  argument  frequently  submitted  for 
cheap  "hymns"  is  that  the  people  like  them.  That  is 
quite  true,  unfortunately.  Many  people  like  whisky, 
also.  But  whisky  has  been  outlawed,  not  only  by 
Constitutional  amendment  but  also  by  public 
opinion,  and  people  who  like  it  are  either  developing 
a  taste  for  other  beverages  or  intrusting  their  lives 
to  the  doubtful  contents  of  the  blockader's  jug.  Is 
this  an  unfair  illustration.?  Not  at  all.  Whisky 
was  outlawed  because  it  was  found  to  exert  a  deleteri- 
ous effect  upon  the  human  body.  The  human  soul 
is  a  far  more  important  thing  than  the  fleshly  en- 
velope in  which  it  resides.  And  if  the  cheap  song 
degrades  the  worship  of  God,  then  it  also  degrades 
that  spiritual  essence  within  us  through  which  alone 
we  can  worship.  Surely  we  have  trifled  and  piddled 
long  enough,  with  this  cancer  eating  at  the  heart  of 
the  service  of  praise  and  thanksgiving.  The  time  has 
come  to  pluck  it  out  and  cast  it  from  us  and  to  con- 
sider deeply  and  carefully  how  we  may  better  wor- 
ship God  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

Again,  we  have  all  heard  remarks  like  this :  "Yes, 
there  is  a  lot  of  trash  in  that  'Sanctified  Jazz  No. 
19',  but  it  contains  a  lot  of  standard  hymns,  too". 
That  sort  of  statement  is  hardly  to  be  dignified  by 
the  word  "argument" ;  it  is  a  kind  of  excuse  for  the 
cheap  book,   and  a  very  poor  excuse,  too.     Why 


86  Practical  Hymnology 

compromise?  The  only  thing  to  do  is  to  use  a  book 
that  contains  good  hymns  exclusively,  and  there  are 
many  of  them.  Use  the  two  types  of  songs  side  by 
side;  the  popular  taste  for  trash  will  in  the  majority 
of  cases  shuffle  the  real  hymns  permanently  into  the 
background.  Remove  the  trash  absolutely  and  use 
only  genuinely  worshipful  songs ;  soon  you  will  have 
so  far  elevated  the  appreciation  of  the  people  as  to 
make  even  erstwhile  devotees  of  trash  rejoice  in  the 
deeply  spiritual  worship  of  God.  The  one  sure  means 
of  accomplishing  this  result  is,  as  suggested  above, 
the  steady  use  of  a  book  that  offers  no  cheap  songs 
whatsoever. 

Another  variety  of  compromise  is  found  in  many 
churches  and  pushed  for  all  it  is  worth  by  the  pub- 
lishers of  cheap  books.  A  good  hymnal  is  used  for 
both  the  church  services  (though  there  are  many 
churches  in  which,  for  some  unknown  and  abstruse 
reason,  trash  is  dragged  out  for  the  evening  wor- 
ship), but  for  the  Sunday  school  some  sorry  job  lot 
of  dance  music  is  favored.  Now,  such  a  compromise 
as  that  is  especially  poisonous,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  our  young  folks  have  their  taste  for  sacred  song 
formed  almost  entirely  in  the  Sunday  school,  and  if 
they  are  trained  there  to  love  trash,  trash  they  must 
have  when  they  come  into  the  church.  And  so,  of 
course,  the  cheap  publishers  encourage  this  com- 
promise, like  the  keen  business  men  they  are,  for 


The  Cheap  ''Hymn''  87 

"train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when 
he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from  it"  is  just  as  true 
if  another  "not"  be  inserted  before  "go". 

There  has  been  some  little  discussion  recently  as 
to  the  tendency  of  young  people  to  attend  Sunday 
school  and  various  and  sundry  religious  societies 
and  "circles",  and  to  absent  themselves  from  the 
church  service.  It  has  been  suggested  by  high  and 
expert  authorities  that  the  remedy  for  this  un- 
fortunate condition  is  the  alteration  of  the  church 
service  to  suit  the  demands  of  the  young  people.  This 
can  mean  one  thing,  and  one  thing  only,  and  that  is 
the  lowering  of  the  devotional  standards  of  the 
Lord's  house,  through  the  introduction  of  cheap 
hymns  (where  they  are  not  already  in  use)  and 
various  other  unworthy  devices  to  charm  a  variegated 
array  of  half-baked  tastes.  I  do  not  believe  that 
even  this  miserable  compromise  will  solve  the  prob- 
lem, for  it  is  just  as  vital  in  churches  that  have  thus 
surrendered  the  true  spirit  of  worship  as  in  those 
that  have  not.  The  only  solution,  in  my  opinion, 
lies  in  a  proper  attention  to  the  correct  training  of 
the  boys  and  girls  m  the  Sunday  school.  If  there  are 
decorum  and  dignity  and  the  genuine  spirit  of  wor- 
ship there  (and  this  is  not  in  the  least  incompatible 
with  youthful  enthusiasm) ,  then  the  transition  to  the 
church  service  is  natural  and  easy.  On  the  other 
hand,    if    reverence  is  undermined  and  all  but  de- 


88  Practical  Hymnology 

stroyed  by  cheap  songs  and  sundry  little  stunts  and 
antics,  then  the  church  service  will  appear  stiff  and 
solemn  and  not  to  be  endured.  In  other  words,  what 
we  need  is  not  the  alteration  of  the  church  service 
to  suit  the  fancy  of  the  young  people,  but  the  train- 
ing of  the  young  people  into  a  reverence  and  love 
for  the  church  service.  And  the  Sunday  school  is 
the  proper  and  the  natural  place  for  this  training. 

So  far  as  hymns  are  concerned,  there  is  no  earthly 
reason  why  one  book  should  be  used  in  church  and  a 
different  (and  sorry)  one  in  the  Sunday  school.  The 
children  can  he  trained  to  love  the  good  hymns  ;^^ 
and  we  are  exceedingly  remiss  in  our  duty  to  them 
when  we  expend  all  our  energies  in  superintending 
their  mental  development  during  the  week,  only  to 
expose  them  on  Sunday  morning  to  reverence-killing 
and  soul-dwarfing  trash  in  the  shape  of  unworship- 
ful  songs.  The  whole  problem  of  the  cheap  "hymn" 
would  be  solved,  and  the  publishers  and  writers  there- 
of driven  to  the  wall,  or  to  reformation,  if  Sunday 
schools  everywhere  would  sing  only  genuine  hymns. 

This  chapter  began  with  the  statement  that  the 
hymn  is,  above  all  other  considerations,  an  act  of 
worship.    Let  us  return  to  that  point  briefly. 

"There  are  innumerable  truly  worshipful  songs  whose  beauty 
and  whose  message  can  be  grasped  by  children  far  more  com- 
pletely than  some  of  their  elders,  who  delight  to  stuff  the 
childish  mind  and  heart  with  trash,  conceive.  Cf.  also  the 
article  quoted  above,  pp.  82-84. 


The  CJieap  "Hymn"'  89 

It  should  be  our  ideal  and  purpose  to  approach 
God's  throne  with  our  prayer  and  praise  as  reverent- 
ly and  worshipfully  as  in  us  lies.  We  have  no  right 
to  use  an  unworthy  vehicle  for  our  devotions,^*  even 
if  some  of  us  do  prefer  it.  Our  Lord  is  no  mumbo- 
jumbo  deity  to  be  propitiated  with  dance  hall  dit- 
ties ;  He  merits  and  demands  the  best  and  the  noblest 
offerings  of  worship  that  we  can  bring,  and  the  emo- 
tions and  aspirations  that  ascend  to  Him  on  the 
pinions  of  song  are  too  divine,  too  sacred,  to  be  de- 
graded and  defiled  by  the  cheap  jingle  of  the  street. 
A  minstrel  show  in  the  choir  loft  and  a  buck-and- 
wing  stunt  in  the  pulpit  would  not  be  one  whit  more 
sacrilegious  than  some  of  the  hymns  that  are  sung 
in  choir  lofts  and  some  of  the  contortions  perpe- 
trated in  pulpits  all  over  this  land.  For  the  minstrel 
and  the  buck-and-wing  are  frankly  secular,  while 
cheap  songs  are  doggerel  and  sentimentality  and  jig 
masquerading  for  money  in  sacred  robes ;  and  the 
ancient  jokes  and  wild  gyrations  of  song  leaders 
are  poor  vaudeville  acts  parading  under  the  guise 
of  religious  enthusiasm.  Harsh  words,  surely.  Yes; 
we  have  coddled  and  pampered  these  noxious  weeds 
in  the  garden  of  the  Lord  long  enough,  and  the  time 
has  come  for  sound  thinking  and  straight  talking. 
There  is  no  ragtime  plank  in  the  divine  platform  of 

"  Read,  in  tMs  connection,  the  first  chapter  of  the  prophecy 
of  Malachi. 


90  Practical  Hymnology 

salvation;  the  mouldy,  rotten  log  of  worship  on 
which  so  many  Christians  are  standing  was  rolled 
up  to  the  platform  by  man  for  man's  glory,  and  it 
has  tainted  the  spiritual  atmosphere  with  its  rank 
fungi  of  worldliness  and  crawling  vermin  of  dollar- 
chasing  far  too  long.  Let  us  break  it  to  pieces  and 
destroy  it  in  the  fire  of  genuine  religious  fervor, 
while  we  sing  worthily  unto  God  the  great  songs  of 
Zion! 

How,  it  may  be  asked,  are  genuine  hymns  to  be 
distinguished  ^^  from  cheap  imitations?  By  apply- 
ing one  or  more  of  three  tests. 

First,  the  test  of  time.  I  do  not  mean  to  imply, 
of  course,  that  all  old  hymns  are  good,  while  all  new 
ones  are  bad.  But  if  only  the  songs  that  have  sur- 
vived all  the  pruning  and  winnowing  of  hundreds  of 
learned  and  devout  men,  and  that  are  found  in  every 
real  hymnal  of  all  denominations,  are  sung,  the  wor- 
ship of  God  is  perfectly  safe.  We  use  frequently 
the  phrase,  "the  good  old  hymns",  and  we  signify 
thereby  songs  of  the  type  of  "Am  I  a  soldier  of  the 
cross";  "O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past";  "Majestic 
sweetness  sits  enthroned";  "Blest  be  the  tie  that 
binds";  "Rock  of  Ages";  and  the  like.  Those  are 
the  hymns  that  have  survived  all  the  tests  that  can 

"  There  are,  of  course,  some  songs  about  wliich  persons  of 
the  best  taste  would  differ.  These,  however,  fonn  a  compara- 
tively small  group. 


The  Cheap  "Hi/mn"  91 

be   applied,   and   that    are   still   fragrant   with   the 
Divine  Presence. 

Secondly,  there  is  a  real  and  vital  spiritual  in- 
stinct that  will  always  function  with  unerring  ac- 
curacy, unless  it  has  been  put  to  sleep  with  the  drugs 
of  mercenary  hymnody.  Refer  a  hymn  to  that  in- 
stinct; ask  its  judgment  upon  the  worshipfulness  of 
the  hymn, — words  and  music.  Suppose  you  desire 
to  sing  about  heaven.  Set  before  your  spiritual  in- 
stinct, "I  will  shout  His  praise  in  glory  (so  will  I, 
so  will  I)",  and  let  its  jingling  measures  resound  in 
your  ears.  If  you  recover  from  the  shock,  find 
"Jerusalem,  the  golden";  read  the  wonderful,  devo- 
tional words  and  listen  to  the  dignified,  beautiful 
music  of  the  tune  "Ewing".  Then  decide  which  of 
the  two  songs  best  expresses  your  idea  of  heaven. 

Suppose,  again,  you  want  to  praise  God  for  His 
grace  that  brought  you  salvation.  Here  is  "Only 
a  sinner,  saved  by  grace".  It  begins  "Naught  have 
I  gotten  but  what  I  received"  (a  marvelous  clause 
whose  meaning  no  man  can  tell),  rambles  on  through 
four  ungrammatical  and  illogical  verses  (and  a 
ragtime  chorus),  and  closes  with  this  gem  of  lin- 
guistic distortion :  "Once  more  to  tell  it,  would  I  em- 
brace !"  Or  examine  "  'Whosoever'  meaneth  me" ;  and 
weep.  I  can  not  refrain  from  quoting  the  chorus  of 
this  unutterably  cheap  ditty.    It  will  illustrate  quite 


92  Practical  Hymnology 

clearly  the  poetic  genius  of  the  author:  "'Whoso- 
ever', surely  meaneth  me,  surely  meaneth  me,  O  surely 
meaneth  me;  'Whosoever',  surely  meaneth  me, 
'whosoever',  meaneth  me  (meaneth  me)".  Now,  com- 
pare with  those  two  precious  jigs  the  majestic  strains 
of  "All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name",  or  the  in- 
spiring worshipfulness  of  "Crown  Him  with  many 
crowns".  Your  instinct  can  not  lead  you  astray. 
Examples  might  be  multiplied  indefinitely. 

Thirdly,  the  surest  and  best  test  ^^  by  which  to 
determine  the  quality  of  a  hymn  is,  of  course,  the 
test  of  mature  judgment.  If  your  judgment  is  im- 
mature or  biased,  dear  reader,  don't  admit  it  by 
supercilious  ridicule  of  those  who,  with  the  interest 
of  the  worship  of  God  at  heart,  are  trying  to  rectify 
and  develop  it.  There  are  people  who  prefer  ten- 
cent  detective  stories  to  Dickens  and  Hugo.  There 
are  others  who  would  rather  hear  a  jazz  band  than 
a  great  orchestra.  And  there  are  still  others  who 
dearly  love  to  sing  waltzes,  ragtime  and  jingles 
in  church.  A  real  judge  of  devotional  poetry  can 
determine  in  a  flash  the  relative  merit  of  "Sweeter  as 
the  days  go  by"  and  "O  Love  that  wilt  not  let  me 

"  Pratt,  Of.  cit.,  pp.  69-71,  suggests  still  another  test,  namely, 
the  power  of  the  hymn  in  actual  use  to  impress  "indifferent, 
immature,  or  half-participating  users,"  and  justly  insists  that 
"we  surely  have  no  right  to  allow  the  conception  of  Chris- 
tianity to  be  lowered  in  such  minds  by  trivial,  perverted  or 
misleading  presentations  of  it." 


Tlie  Cheap  ''Hymn''  93 

go";  of  "Grace,  enough  for  me"  ^'^  and  "When  I  sur- 
vey the  wondrous  cross". 

The  difference  between  tlie  music  of  a  good  song 
and  a  trashy  one  is  more  easily  apprehended  than 
is  the  poetical  discrepancy.  Anybody  with  the 
slightest  knowledge  or  appreciation  of  music  can 
tell  at  once  that  "Count  your  blessings"  is  very,  very 
bad,  while  "Love  divine,  all  loves  excelling"  is  superb ; 
that  "There  is  a  green  hill  far  away"  is  immeasurably 
superior  to  "He  died  for  me"  (although  the  latter  is 
as  close  an  imitation  of  the  former,  music,  time  and 
idea,  as  it  can  possibly  be)  ;  that  "Love  is  the  theme" 
and  "The  King  of  Love  my  Shepherd  is"  are  not  to 
be  mentioned  in  the  same  breath;  that  "Where  we'll 
never  grow  old"  is  tawdry  and  "Hark!  Hark!  my 
soul"  is  sublime. 

With  the  treasures  of  great  souls  available  to  us 
all,  in  our  hymns,  why  must  so  many  of  us  tie  our 
spirits  do\Mi  to  the  poor,  cheap  twitterings  of  little 
money-chasing  men  and  women?  Why  must  we 
crawl  along  the  ground  and  scour  the  street  and  the 
dance  hall  for  the  means  of  praise  and  thanksgiving, 
when  we  can  scale  Pisgah's  lofty  height  and  hold 
reverent  communion  with  our  Maker?     Let  us  cast 

"The  second  verse  of  this  jewel  runs  as  follows  (italics, 
mine)  :  "While  standing  there,  my  trembling  heart,  Once  full 
of  agony,  could  scarce  believe  the  sight  /  saw  Of  grace,  enough 
for  me." 


94!  Practical  Hymnology 

aside  our  careless,  indifferent  attitude,  and  thought- 
fully, earnestly,  prayerfully,  strive  to  approach  the 
Throne  with  offerings  of  the  best  we  can  bring, — 
to  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  tinith! 


CHAPTER  III 

MUSIC  IN  THE  CHURCH  AND  SUNDAY  SCHOOL 

IN  some  sections  of  our  country  there  is  a  sincere 
effort  being  made  to  fight  the  cheaper  sort  of  pop- 
uhir  (secular)  songs.  Thoughtful  men  and  women 
are  beginning  to  realize  that  many  of  the  productions 
of  Tin  Pan  Alley  are  not  only  disgusting  from  the 
point  of  view  of  music,  but  positively  immoral  in  their 
words.  It  is  pleasant  to  be  able  to  chronicle  the  fact 
that  wherever  the  attention  of  young  people  has 
been  sharply  called  to  the  real  quality  of  the  stuff 
they  have  been  singing,  a  great  awakening  and  im- 
provement have  immediately  ensued.  For  example, 
one  of  our  daily  papers  not  long  ago  reprinted  an 
article  from  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  describing 
how  the  city  of  Madison,  Wisconsin,  promoted  a  cam- 
paign to  teach  the  masses  good  music.  Newspapers, 
schools,  stores,  restaurants,  moving  picture  theatres, 
and  churches  assisted  in  pushing  this  campaign, 
which  was  conceived  and  organized  by  the  School 
of  Music  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  The  theory 
of  this  anti-jazz  drive  was  as  follows  (as  stated  by 
one  of  the  University  professors)  :  "With  their  ears 

95 


96  Practical  Hyimwlogy 

filled  with  some  of  these  hauntingly  beautiful,  simple 
melodies  it  will  be  more  difficult  for  people  to  listen 
to  the  vulgar  monotony  of  bad  music.  One  selection 
a  day  was  all  that  we  presented  to  the  public,  and 
on  that  selection  was  concentrated  most  of  our  at- 
tention for  that  day.  The  selections  ranged  any- 
where from  'OP  Black  Joe'  to  'Moment  Musicale'. 
I  believe  that  the  reason  why  many  people  think 
they  do  not  like  good  music  is  that  they  are  ignorant 
of  it.  It  was  to  combat  this  condition  that  we 
started  on  our  campaign.  We  wanted  the  people  in 
general  to  see,  what  man}^  of  us  are  already  fortunate 
enough  to  know,  that  good  music  does  not  neces- 
sarily mean  heavy  music  or  dull  music". 

The  Literary  Digest  of  Aug.  14,  1920,  published 
some  opinions  upon  the  possibility  of  stamping  out 
the  more  objectionable  popular  songs.  War  has 
been  declared  upon  them,  it  appears,  by  the  General 
Federation  of  Women's  Clubs.  One  of  the  leaders  in 
this  fight  recently  wrote  as  follows:  "I  have  worked 
for  twenty  years  on  the  theory  that  jazz  and  rag- 
time, in  its  original  form,  would  be  the  basis  of  the 
future  American  school  [of  composition].  But  that 
is  no  reason  why  I  can  not  see  that  ragtime  and  jazz, 
when  vulgarized,  are  an  actual  menace  to  the  life, 
morals,  and  education  of  young  America  to-day. 

"When  one  knows  that  in  one  of  Chicago's  big- 


Music  m  tJw  Church  ami  Stmday  Sclwol     97 

gcst  and  best  hi^h  schools  the  students  bought  two 
thousand  popular  songs  in  two  weeks,  and  that  the 
committee  of  students  appointed  by  the  school  found 
only  forty  which  they  considered  fit  for  boys  and 
girls  to  sing  together,  don't  you  really  think  some- 
thing should  happen  to  awaken  American  parents 
to   their   responsibilities? 

"In  a  Middle-Western  city  where  I  had  been  giv- 
ing talks  in  which  I  attacked  the  evil  popular  songs 
I  said  to  the  manager  of  a  music-shop  that  I  hoped 
I  had  not  hurt  her  business.  She  replied,  'If  I  could 
help  you  in  this  campaign  I'd  give  up  everything 
else  in  the  world  to  do  it'.  She  told  me  that  seventy- 
five  per  cent,  of  her  customers  were  high-school  boys 
and  girls  who  bought  nothing  but  this  trash,  and 
she  said  that  they  blushed  when  they  asked  for  it." 

Even  the  National  Association  of  Masters  of 
Dancing  is  girding  up  its  toes  for  the  fray.  If  a 
news  item  from  New  York  City,  under  date  of  Aug. 
27,  1920,  may  be  credited,  the  Association,  on  the 
preceding  evening,  listened  with  approval  to  a  speak- 
er who  declared  that  the  public  had  had  too  much 
jazz  and  was  turning  toward  more  "natural"  music. 
He  urged  "a  rigid  censorship  of  words  in  music  and 
said  suggestive  lyrics  should  be  discontinued".  The 
Association  evolved  a  new  step,  described  as  slow 
and    graceful,    called    "The   Wesleyan",    "with   the 


98  Practical  Hymnology 

avowed  hope  that  it  will  receive  approval  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  the  anti-dancing  edict  of  which 
tlie  convention  has  deplored  each  day" ! 

Now,  a  fight  against  trash,  in  the  field  of  secular 
or  sacred  song,  is  a  difficult,  discouraging,  and  al- 
most endless  affair.  But  a  beginning  has  been  made 
by  many  men  and  women,  and  there  are  thousands 
of  people  who  only  need  to  have  their  attention  di- 
rected to  the  sort  of  stuff  their  children  sing  in  the 
parlor  and  in  the  church  to  rise  up  in  arms  and 
swell  the  forces  of  decency  everywhere. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  the  qualities  and  char- 
acteristics of  cheap  "religious"  songs  were  set  forth, 
together  with  their  method  of  construction  and  the 
motives  that  actuate  their  authors  and  publishers. 
We  must  now  consider  how  best  to  fight  against  their 
introduction  into  our  churches,  Sunday  schools  and 
young  people's  societies,  and  how  most  successfully 
to  drive  them  out  of  the  strongholds  they  have  al- 
ready occupied. 

These  tasks,  as  has  been  suggested,  are  of  great 
difficulty,  for  two  reasons.  First,  the  love  of  cheap 
music  has  become,  during  the  past  ten  or  fifteen 
years,  almost  second  nature  to  great  masses  of  our 
people.  Tliey  have  acquired  the  habit  of  proclaiming 
loudly,  and  (strange  to  say)  somewhat  loftily,  their 
ignorance  of  "classical"  music,  and  of  displaying 
clearly  their  supreme  boredom  when  a   courageous 


MiLsic  in  the  Church  and  Stunday  School    99 

musician  attempts  to  render  some  of  it.  We  have  all 
heard  remarks  like  the  following,  delivered  with  a 
rather  exasperating  air  of  independence  and  supe- 
riority :  "Well,  I  suppose  that  selection  was  very 
fine,  but  it  was  beyond  me;  I  have  never  beOn  trained 
in  music,  you  see".  As  a  matter  of  fact,  numerous 
musical  masterpieces  are  beyond  the  comprehension 
of  the  layman ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  just  as  many 
can  be  heard  and  thoroughly  appreciated  by  persons 
with  no  training  in  music  whatever.  In  other  words, 
the  trouble  with  the  average  listener  is  not  inability 
to  enjoy,  but  disinclination,  usually  based  upon  a 
wholly  incorrect  idea  of  what  good  music  really  is. 
To  fight  against  a  state  of  mind  is  a  task  difficult 
enough,  surely;  but  there  is  yet  another  considera- 
tion which  at  least  doubles  the  difficulty.  The  writers 
and  publishers  of  cheap  songs  might  have  given  use- 
ful pointers  on  the  dissemination  of  propaganda  to 
the  wretched  crew  at  Potsdam  before  and  during  the 
Great  War.  The  unworthy  and  frequently  disrepu- 
table means  they  employ  to  advertise  their  wares 
have  already  been  discussed.  These  men  are  of  course 
thoroughly  cognizant  of  the  popular  fondness  for 
trash,  and  they  are  capitalizing  it  in  a  most  efficient 
and  disgraceful  manner — disgraceful,  because  their 
millions  are  made  through  the  degradation  of  the 
worship  of  God.  Here,  then,  is  the  foe :  a  sort  of  two- 
headed  beast,  spitting  out  coruscating  ragtime  and 


100  Practical  Hymnology 

jingles  and  poisonous  onesteps  and  foxtrots,  and 
creeping  on  liis  slimy  belly  into  the  very  Holy  of 
Holies. 

The  principle  enunciated  above  (pp.  85-86) 
may  be  repeated  here  and  insisted  upon  as  funda- 
mental, namely,  that  there  can  be  no  compromise 
whatsoever  in  this  fight.  If  an  accurate  accounting 
could  be  taken  of  the  profits  which  publishers  of 
cheap  In'mn  books  make  every  year,  at  least  half  of 
such  profits  would  probably  be  found  to  accrue  from 
the  Sunday  school  compromise,  that  is,  from  the 
sale  of  cheap  books  for  Sunday  school  use  only.  He 
who  compromises  with  a  scorpion  or  a  rattlesnake  is 
lost;  he  who  dallies  with  and  coddles  the  equally 
poisonous  dance  hall  hymn  will  soon  be  in  full  re- 
treat, with  the  triumphant  jeers  of  the  publisher 
speeding  him  on  his  way. 

To  those  pastors,  superintendents,  and  choir- 
masters who  have  not  yet  surrendered  their  service 
of  worship  to  Mammon  I  beg  to  submit  the  foregoing 
paragraph  as  containing  full  armor  for  the  fray. 
For  the  cheap  "hymn"  almost  invariably  creeps  into 
the  church  by  way  of  the  Sunday  school ;  and  if  that 
entrance  be  closed  fast  and  sure,  in  spite  of  the 
frantic  appeals  of  the  young  people  for  "popular" 
songs,  then  the  worship  of  God  will  be  safe  from 
contamination  and  pollution. 

The  task  of  driving  out  cheap  books  is  far  more 


Mwsic  m  the  Church  and  Swnday  School  101 

complicated  and  difficult  than  that  of  keeping  them 
V  out.  In  order  to  accomplish  the  former  success- 
fully and  permanently,  there  must,  first  of  all,  be  a 
deep  and  unalterable  conviction  in  the  minds  of  the 
minister  and  his  co-workers  of  the  vital  importance 
of  genuinely  spiritual  worship  in  all  the  various 
services  which  are  held  in  the  church  or  under  its 
auspices.  If  there  is  any  uncertainty  or  hesitation 
here,  the  task  is  absolutely  hopeless. 

In  the  second  place,  these  leaders  of  the  people 
must  be  equally  deeply  and  unalterably  convinced 
of  the  inherent  cheapness  and  sorriness  of  the  rag- 
time "hymn",  and,  therefore,  of  its  absolute  unfit- 
ness as  a  vehicle  for  prayer  and  praise.  With  these 
convictions  as  sword  and  shield,  the  fight  may  be 
begun  hopefully  and  confidently.  Without  them — 
"God  has  the  right  to  be  worshipped  with  the  best 
we  have  or  can  secure,  even  if  the  process  of  getting 
and  bringing  it  costs  us  something.  Indeed,  if  it 
costs  nothing  it  means  nothing.  Every  item  of  wor- 
ship is  an  offering  of  joy  and  devotion  to  Him,  and 
its  worthiness  is  to  be  measured  by  what  it  means 
to  the  offerer.  In  too  many  prayer-meetings  and 
other  church  services  the  devotional  dignity  of  hymn- 
singing  has  been  destroyed  on  this  side.  A  poor 
book  is  used,  which  the  people  know  to  be  poor 
and  in  their  heart  despise,  because  they  are  too 
mean  to  get  a  better  one.     Poor  selections  are  kept 


102  Practical  Hymnology 

in  use,  against  which  the  feeling  of  the  users  more 
or  less  revolts,  because  they  are  too  lazy  and  in- 
different to  attempt  better  ones.  The  leaders,  both 
the  minister  and  his  musical  helpers,  have  fallen 
into  a  disconsolate  apathy  about  the  exercise,  and 
let  it  drag  along  in  a  stupid,  poverty-stricken,  list- 
less fashion,  not  because  they  are  without  a  sense 
of  its  manifest  inferiority,  but  because  they  are 
averse  to  the  effort  to  make  it  better.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  it  is  not  said  that  all  churches  should 
use  the  same  books  or  the  same  hymns  and  tunes 
or  the  same  general  methods,  for  all  churches  are 
not  alike.  But  the  use  by  any  church  of  that  which 
it  knows  to  be  unworthy  of  itself  and  of  God  is  so 
shameful  that  it  is  almost  blasphemous.  Counter- 
feit coin  on  the  contribution-plate,  vacant  lip-service 
in  the  prayers,  and  doggerel  and  trash  in  the 
hymnody  are  pretty  much  alike  as  tributes  of  wor- 
ship".i 

Fortified,  then,  with  these  convictions,  the  minister, 
the  superintendent,  and  the  choirmaster  must  next 
set  about  implanting  them  firmly  in  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  people.  There  are  many  ways  in  which 
this  can  be  accomplished.  The  minister  should,  of 
course,  begin  the  fight  by  some  straight,  earnest, 
fearless  remarks  from  the  pulpit.  He  willfind  many 
in   the  congregation   to  disagree  with   and   criticise 

^  Pratt,  op.  cit.,  pp.  64-G5. 


Music  in  the  Church  and  Simday  ScJwol  103 

him,  but  let  him  hold  his  ground  unflinchingly, 
staunch  and  steadfast  in  the  knowledge  that  he  is 
right.  The  superintendent,  following  the  example 
of  his  chief,  must  explain  to  the  Sunday  school 
the  violation  of  the  proprieties  involved  in  the  sing- 
ing of  waltzes  and  onesteps  in  the  house  of  God, 
and  must  make  it  clear  even  to  the  youngest  that  a 
commercialized  hymnody  has  no  place  in  true  wor- 
ship. The  organist  or  choirmaster  can  be  of  in- 
estimable value  to  both  pastor  and  superintendent, 
for,  as  has  been  shown  above,  there  is  no  better  way 
of  displaying  the  sorriness  of  a  sorry  "hymn"  than 
by  contrasting  it,  at  the  piano  or  organ,  w^ith  a  fine 
hynrn.  Only  one  copy  of  the  cheap  book  needs  to 
be  saved  from  the  bonfire  for  this  purpose.  Some 
such  process  of  precept  and  example  must  be  re- 
peated over  and  over,  for  the  development  of  good 
taste  is  a  slow  and  tedious  undertaking. 

A  song  service  on  Sunday  evening  every  month  or 
so  is  an  excellent  means  of  presenting  the  best  in 
h^Tnnody  to  a  congregation  just  stepping  out  of 
jazzdom.  I  do  not  mean  a  service  in  which  the  or- 
ganist and  the  choir  do  most  of  the  work,  but  one 
devoted  almost  exclusively  to  the  singing  of  hymns, 
— to  the  widening  of  the  congregational  repertoire. 
Nearly  all  the  great  hymns  have  some  incidents  as- 
sociated with  their  composition  and  use.~     Let  the 

» Cf.  footnote  5,  p.  65. 


104  Practical  Hymnology 

minister  relate  these  incidents,  call  attention  to  the 
thought  around  which  the  hymn  is  written  and  to  its 
musical  and  lyric  beauty,  urge  the  people  to  fix 
their  attention  strongly  on  words  and  music,  as  they 
sing.  The  superintendent  may  use  the  same  means 
in  the  Sunday  school.  He  and  the  pastor  will  soon 
discover  a  genuine  interest  in  hj^mns  spreading 
through  the  congregation, — an  interest  that  should 
be  fostered  and  nourished  by  studies  in  hymnology 
at  the  mid-week  prayer  meeting  or  in  the  young 
people's   societies. 

Now,  this  program  demands  the  outlay  of  a  little 
money  for  the  purchase  of  some  six  or  eight  books,^ 
the  giving  of  considerable  time  and  labor  to  study, 
and  the  undiscouraged  display  of  infinite  patience 
in  dealing  with  a  jazz-loving  congregation  and  Sun- 
day school.  But  to  drive  out  of  God's  house  the 
unworthy  and  unholy  songs  that  defile  His  worship, 
and  to  drive  out  of  the  hearts  of  the  people  the  taste 
for  them,  is  surely  worth  far  more  than  even  the  most 
zealous  of  us  ever  will  or  can  expend. 

Nothing  can  take  the  place  of  congregational 
singing  in  the  worship  of  God.  And  yet,  in  far  too 
many  churches,  it  is  rather  a  dismal  and  uninspiring 
business.     In  the  Preface  and  again  in  the  second 


•  Consult  the  bibliography   given   on   pages   201-213   of  Pro- 
fessor Pratt's  book  (see  footnote  20,  p.  36). 


Music  in  tJi^  Church  and  Swnday  School  105 

chapter  "*  of  this  little  book,  some  suggestions  were 
made  as  to  the  reasons  for  this  most  unfortunate 
condition.  Where  it  exists,  its  immediate  alteration 
is,  barring  the  saving  of  souls,  the  most  vital  task 
that  can  possibly  confront  the  minister  and  his 
assistants  in  the  work  of  the  Kingdom.  For  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  deep  spiritual  enthusiasm 
aroused  by  hearty  congregational  singing  tends  to 
flow  into  all  the  various  lines  of  church  activity; 
and,  conversely,  that  a  lack  of  interest  and  of  whole- 
souled  participation  in  song  exercises  a  dampening 
and  repressing  effect,  not  only  upon  the  entire  service 
but  upon  all  good  works. 

Here,  again,  the  minister  must  bestir  himself  to 
vigorous  leadership,  and  must  not  allow  discourage- 
ment on  account  of  a  possible  absence  of  immediate 
results  to  drag  him  back  to  his  former  apathy. 
Stimulating,  inspiring  and  helpful  words  from  the 
pulpit,  if  often  enough  repeated,  will  gradually  have 
their  effect  upon  even  the  most  indifferent  congrega- 
tion. But  the  burden  falls  equally  upon  the  organist. 
A  slipshod,  inaccurate,  blundering  performer  can 
never  lead  the  people  to  new  heights  in  song.  And 
it  may  as  well  be  said  here  that  the  chief  function 
of  an  organist  is  to  do  just  that  thing.  It  makes  no 
difference  how  gifted  he  may  be  at  improvisation, 

*  P.  7T. 


106  Practical  Hymnology 

how  fine  an  ear  he  may  have  for  combinations  of 
stops,  how  brilliantly  he  may  execute  preludes  and 
postludes.  If  he  is  unable  to  play  hymns  correctly, 
vigorously,  and  inspiringly,  he  is  not  a  church  or- 
ganist, and  the  sooner  he  resigns,  the  better.  Per- 
haps one-tenth  of  the  miserable  dragging  one  hears 
in  so  many  churches  is  due  to  the  inherent  laziness 
of  human  nature;  a  piddling,  careless  organist  is 
responsible  for  the  other  nine-tenths.  Incidentally, 
it  is  astounding  how  many  young  ladies  who  have 
graduated  in  music  at  reputable  colleges  and  con- 
servatories are  terror-stricken  and  helpless  before  a 
simple  hymn. 

Some  churches  have  a  leader  who  stands  out  in  a 
prominent  place  and  keeps  the  people  from  going 
to  sleep  over  their  singing  either  by  the  sheer  power 
of  his  voice  or  by  sundry  gyrations  and  gesticula- 
tions after  the  fashion  of  certain  orchestra  directors. 
Such  a  performer  is  wholly  superfluous  in  churches 
which  have  pipe  organs  and  genuine  organists.  For 
assemblies,  Sunday  schools,  and  the  like,  he  is  almost 
a  necessity,  though  all  too  often  he  succeeds  in  mak- 
ing himself  a  colossal  nuisance  by  his  antediluvian 
jokes  and  vulgar  antics. 

Good  congregational  singing  is  greatly  stimulated 
by  wide-awake,  energetic  work  in  the  choir  gallery. 
The  chief  function  of  the  choir,  as  of  the  organist,  is 
to  lead  the  people  in  the  hymns.     In  some  of  our 


Music  m  the  Church  and  Swnday  School  107 

city  cliurclies  the  choir  occupies,  quecrly  enough,  a 
loft  at  the  end  of  the  church  opposite  the  pulpit, 
and  so  sings  at  the  backs  of  the  people  in  the  pews, 
instead  of  into  their  faces.  But  that  situation  is 
comparatively  unusual,  for  the  large  majority  of 
choirs  are  conspicuously  seated  near  the  minister, 
where  they  can  actually  lead  in  the  service  of  song. 

Sunday  school  orchestras  are  much  favored  in 
some  cities,  and  they  may  possibly  be  valuable;  but 
my  observation  is  that  where  orchestras  are  found, 
there  trashy  music  is  found,  also.  Cheap  books  are 
"orchestrated"  (as  a  further  inducement,  of  course, 
to  their  purchase) ,  and  when  five  or  six  young  people 
get  their  violins,  cornets  and  trombones  going  full 
tilt  on  some  wretched  piece  of  "sacred"  jazz,  it  is 
quite  easy  to  close  your  eyes  and  imagine  yourself 
in  a  dance  hall.  A  good  pianist  and  a  leader  with  a 
deep  sense  of  the  proprieties  of  a  religious  service 
are  far  better. 

Hearty  congregational  singing  is  always  stimu- 
lated by  a  judicious  selection  of  hymns.  Most  people 
come  to  church  reverently  and  worshipfully,  and  so 
are  better  prepared  to  sing  vigorously  a  song  of 
praise  at  the  opening  of  the  service,  such  as  "Ye 
servants  of  God,  your  Master  proclaim",  than  some 
mournful  dirge  like  "I'm  but  a  stranger  here". 
Similarly,  the  selections  following  the  scripture  and 
the  sermon  should  be  germane  and  pertinent. 


108  Practical  Hymnology 

So,  by  wise  selection  and  inspiring  leadership,  in 
which  minister,  superintendent,  organist,  and  choir 
must  all  share,  the  service  of  song  may  be  made,  in 
every  church  and  Sunday  school  in  the  land,  a 
worthy  offering  of  sweet  savor  unto  the  Lord. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  congregational  sing- 
ing, one  more  word  must  be  added  by  way  of  em- 
phasis. If  the  minister  hesitates  or  falters,  the 
whole  program  might  as  well  take  the  place  of  the 
trash  books  on  the  bonfire.  It  is  quite  true,  of  course, 
that  many  seminaries  offer  practically  no  instruction 
in  hymnology  (a  most  unfortunate  and  inexplicable 
state  of  affairs),  and  that  in  many  Bible  schools  and 
institutes  Mr.  Jazz  and  Mr.  Gotrox  have  charge  of 
the  department  of  "Gospel  Song".  In  spite  of  this, 
however,  no  minister  has  any  excuse  to  plead  igno- 
rance, for  a  little  study  will  open  up  to  him  one  of 
the  most  fascinating  fields  in  the  whole  realm  of  re- 
ligious thought  and  achievement.  If  he  pleads  indif- 
ference, he  needs  to  have  his  eyes  opened  to  the  par- 
amount importance  of  vigorous  singing,  and  to  his 
duty  of  energetic  leadership  in  it;  and  if  he  will  not 
submit  to  the  process  of  a  charging  of  his  hymnodic 
batteries,  let  him,  for  the  good  of  the  church  and  the 
glory  of  God,  move  on  and  give  place  to  some  more 
enlightened  and  energetic  man  who  is  not  indifferent 
to  the  transcendent  significance  of  genuine  worship. 

Every  one  of  the  great  denominations  has  one  or 


Mtisic  ill  the  Church  and  Swnday  School  109 

more  hymnals  of  the  highest  quality.  The  names 
and  publishers  of  these  books  can  be  easily  ascer- 
tained by  inquiry,  and  their  merits  tested  by  careful 
examination.  It  is  exceedingly  important  that  there 
should  be  an  ample  supply  of  books,  with  words  and 
music,  so  that  everybody  who  desires  to  take  part  in 
the  service  of  song  may  do  so  without  the  incon- 
venience of  being  compelled  either  to  look  over 
shoulders  and  around  hats  or  to  sing  from  memory. 
We  must  now  return  to  the  choir  and  the  organist 
and  consider  the  question  of  "special  music".  One  or 
two  general  observations  may  first  be  made.  Many 
choirs  have  an  inexcusably  bad  habit  of  chatting  in 
the  choir  gallery  after  they  have  taken  their  places 
for  the  service.  This  practice  has  an  exceedingly  in- 
jurious effect  upon  the  people  in  the  pews,  who,  per- 
ceiving that  their  leaders  are  totally  oblivious  of  the 
proprieties  of  the  sanctuary,  follow  with  great  com- 
placency the  example  so  prominently  set.  The  result 
is  that  when  the  minister  steps  into  the  pulpit,  he 
faces  a  sort  of  general  social  party,  with  numer- 
ous groups  twittering  away  in  a  most  affable  and 
pleasant  manner,  instead  of  a  reverent  assemblage  of 
worshipers,  with  their  hearts  open  to  the  inspiration 
of  the  hour.  Incidentally,  the  organist's  prelude, 
which  should  be  a  sort  of  devotional  introduction 
to  the  whole  service,  might  just  as  well  be  rendered 
in  the  heart  of  Africa,  for  most  of  the  people  are 


110  Practical  Hymnology 

amiably  gossiping,  and  those  who  really  want  to  hear 
the  music  must  be  satisfied  to  listen  instead  to  cer- 
tain harrowing  details  about  somebody's  new  dress 
or  to  an  animated  discussion  of  crops  or  business 
prospects. 

Part  of  the  blame  for  the  existence  of  such  a  sacri- 
legious atmosphere  is  certainly  to  be  placed  on  the 
minister.  Now,  I  am  not  a  member  of  a  ritualistic 
church,  but  my  observation  has  been  that  in  such 
churches  there  is  invariably  a  genuine  reverence  for 
the  place  and  the  service.  The  minister  who  without 
an  ordered  liturgy  makes  his  own  program  of  wor- 
ship, and  carries  it  out  according  to  his  own  ideas, 
must  see  to  it  as  best  he  can  that  a  tradition  of 
respect  for  the  sanctuary  is  developed  in  the  hearts 
of  his  people,  too.  The  slipshod  informality  and  gen- 
eral uncertainty  (with  its  consequent  embarrass- 
ment) so  frequently  to  be  seen  in  non-liturgical  serv- 
ices is  inexcusable,  for  it  stimulates  irreverence  and 
a  wandering  of  the  attention  entirely  incompatible 
with  that  worshipful  concentration  of  soul  so  essen- 
tial to  the  success  of  any  religious  assemblage.  I 
am  not  pleading  for  the  universal  adoption  of  litur- 
gies, but  for  a  carefully  arranged  program,  carried 
out  with  dignity  and  a  decent  regard  for  the  proprie- 
ties of  the  Lord's  house. 

At  the  risk  of  being  accused  of  desertion  of  non- 
ritualistic  precedent,  I  desire  to  register  here  my 


Music  in  th€  Church  and  Swnday  School  111 

conviction  that  the  choir,  or  at  least  the  women  mem- 
bers of  it,  should  wear  some  sort  of  robe.  The  weekly 
display  of  variegated  millinery  and  more  or  less 
brilliant  gowns  and  suits  in  the  choir  loft  is  too  much 
like  a  fashion  show  to  escape  general  observation  and 
comment  from  the  feminine  (and  some  of  the  mascu- 
line) portion  of  the  audience.  When  the  hymns 
are  sung,  some  awe-inspiring  hat  or  dazzling  dress 
is  sure  to  distract  attention  from  the  act  of  worship 
then  in  progress ;  whereas,  if  the  men  and  women  in 
the  choir  wore  black  robes  (the  women,  caps,  also), 
the  fashion  show  would  give  place  to  a  body  of 
Christians  unostentatiously  striving  to  promote  the 
worship  of  God. 

Some  denominational  leaders  have  made  up  their 
minds  that  anthems,  solos,  etc.,  are  wholly  out  of 
place  in  church.  These  men  lose  no  opportunity  of 
casting  slurs  at  "special  music  which  is  over  the 
heads  of  the  people,"  and  of  hinting  quite  strongly 
that  the  time  occupied  in  its  rendition  is  worse  than 
wasted.  This  sort  of  criticism  is  justified  only  when 
the  organist  and  his  singers  abandon  the  devotional 
for  the  concert  style  of  anthems  and  other  musical 
numbers ;  and  that  happens  very  infrequently  in  well- 
regulated  choirs.  There  is  no  danger  that  music 
will  ever  be  over-emphasized  in  the  great  majority  of 
our  churches.  On  the  contrary,  in  many  of  them 
religion  seeks  very  little  aid  and  inspiration  from 


112  Practical  Hymnology 

that  fine  art  which  is  really  the  child  of  the  Church  ^ 
and  which  has  contributed  so  bounteously  and  so 
beautifully  to  tlie  bringing  in  of  the  Kingdom  dur- 
ing the  past  centuries. 

Every  remark  that  has  been  made  in  this  book 
concerning  good  and  bad  hymns  applies  equally 
to  good  and  bad  anthems.  For  the  anthem  is 
also  an  act  of  worship,  or  it  has  no  right  to  be 
performed  in  church.  There  are  a  large  number 
of  writers  and  publishers  of  cheap  anthems,  and 
they  are  just  as  happy  and  busy  as  their  blood- 
brothers  of  the  song  book  industry.  The  cheap  an- 
them is  usually  to  be  distinguished  by  the  difficult 
and  dangerous  feats  it  requires  of  all  the  singers, 
but  more  particularly  of  the  bassos.  A  choir  that 
sings  trash  of  this  sort  ought  always  to  have  an 
ambulance  ready  to  cart  bassos  to  the  hospital  when 
they  collapse  after  the  awful  Sunday  morning  strain 
of  ripping  and  tearing  up  and  do^vn  the  scale.  Not 
only  the  cheap  anthem  is  to  be  shunned,  but  also 
the  florid,  concertistic  anthem,  which,  however  skill- 
fully composed,  is  out  of  place  in  the  devotional 
atmosphere  of  the  sanctuary.  It  hardly  needs  to 
be  added  that  a  sensible  choirmaster  will  gauge 
accurately  the  musical  ability  of  his  singers  and 
will  never,  under  any  circumstances,  have  them  sing 

°  Read  Pratt's  excellent  chapter  on  "Religion  and  the  Art  of 
Music,"  Oft.  cit.,  pp.  9-44. 


Music  m  th€  Church  and  Siunday  School  113 

compositions  wliicli  arc  beyond  the  range  of  their 
powers.  It  is  far,  far  better  to  render  some  beau- 
tiful and  appropriate  hymn  as  the  offertory,  than 
to  murder  Sullivan's  magnificent  "Sing,  0  Heavens," 
or  the  incomparable  "Hallelujah  Chorus." 

There  are  ample  treasures  of  good  anthems  for 
choirs  of  every  grade  of  abilit}'.^  And  no  fair- 
minded  person  can  dispute  the  effectiveness,  as  an 
act  of  worship y  of  a  devotional  anthem,  selected 
for  its  bearing  on  the  scripture  and  the  sermon 
of  the  hour,  and  sung  by  the  choir  with  reverence 
and  genuine  spiritual  insight. 

That  leads  me  to  say  that  the  members  of  vol- 
unteer choirs  should  certainly  be  Christian  men  and 
women,  whom  the  congregation  can  follow  in  wor- 
ship without  any  reservation  whatever.  In  the  case 
of  paid  musicians,  this  rule,  unfortunately,  can  not 
alwa^^s  be  observed. 

The  chorus  choir  seems  to  me  much  better,  from 
every  point  of  view,  than  the  quartet.  It  is,  of 
course,  vastly  more  efficient  in  the  leadership  of 
congregational  singing,  which  is,  as  has  already  been 
said,  the  principal  business  of  choirs.  And  in  the 
rendering  of  anthems,  a  full  body  of  tone  is  actually 
more  effective  than  the  artistic  shading  in  which 
the  quartet  excels.    Besides,  membership  in  the  choir 

'Consult  Randairs  "Choirmaster's  Guide  to  HjTiins  and 
Anthems,"  Novello,  London,  1911;  or  Foster's  "Anthems  and 
Anthem  Composers,"  Novello,  London,  1901. 


114  Practical  Hymnology 

means  real  Christian  service;  and  men  and  women 
of  musical  ability  should  be  given  this  opportunity 
of  using  their  talents  for  the  glory  of  God. 

Organ  and  vocal  solos  should  be  selected  with 
care,  upon  the  same  principle  that  governs  the 
choice  of  anthems.  In  short,  every  piece  of  music 
played  or  sung  in  the  house  of  the  Lorc^  .;hould  be 
regarded  as  an  act  of  worship,  and  should  be  chosen 
and  rendered  with  absolutely  no  other  object  than 
of  making  a  real  contribution  to  the  inspiration  and 
the  spiritual  power  of  the  service. 

The  volunteer  choir  has,  sad  to  say,  become  rather 
famous  for  petty  squabbles,  started  over  nothing, 
and  sometimes  fanned  into  great,  roaring  feuds 
that  have  even  been  known  to  split  churches.  No 
man  or  woman  ought  ever  to  become  a  member  of 
a  choir  who  does  not  possess  enough  of  the  spirit 
of  toleration  and  of  real  Christian  love  to  make  such 
disastrous  occurrences  impossible. 

Choir  work,  if  well  done,  demands  genuine  con- 
secration, and  not  a  little  time,  energy  and  self- 
sacrifice.  In  consideration  of  that  fact,  there  should 
be,  in  the  congregation,  a  spirit  of  hearty  coopera- 
tion with  the  singers,  of  gratitude  for  their  services, 
of  interest  in  their  work;  with  never  a  word  of 
bitterness  or  ugly  sarcasm,  no  matter  how  inexpertly 
they  may  render  the  anthem.  They  are  very  prob- 
ably doing  the  best  they  can, — and,  what  is  more 


Music  m  the  Church  cmd  Sunday  School  115 

important, — if  they  are  sincere  Christians,  they  are 
doing  it  for  the  glory  of  God. 

There  could  be  no  more  appropriate  way  to  close 
this  little  book  than  to  repeat  the  words  which 
stand  on  the  title-page,  for  they  express  concisely 
and  com])lctely  the  point  of  view  these  chapters 
have  t.  ,d  to  present :  "Let  the  word  of  Christ 
dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom;  teaching  and 
admonishing  one  another  in  psalms  and  hymns  and 
spiritual  songs,  singing  with  grace  in  your  hearts 
to  the  Lord." 


APPENDIX 


A  charge  to  keep  I  have 

A  parting  hymn  we  sing 

A  voice  is  heard  on  earth 

Abide  with  me 

Alas !  and  did  my  Savior  bleed 

All  for  Jesus — All  for  Jesus 

All  glory,  laud  and  honor 

All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name 

All  my  heart  this  night  rejoices 

All  praise  to  Thee,  my  God,  this  night 

Alleluia  !    Song  of  gladness 

Am  I  a  soldier  of  the  cross 

Ancient  of  daj^s,  Who  sittest 

Angels  from  the  realms  of  glory 

Angel  voices  ever  singing 

*  This  list  is  not  given  as  a  canon  of  sacred  song,  but  simply 
to  serve  as  a  practical  guide  in  the  actual  selection  of  hymns. 
It  is  very  small,  of  necessity,  but  the  hymns  in  it  may  be  sung 
at  any  religious  meeting,  by  old  people  or  young  people,  and 
not  only  be  sung,  but  understood  and  appre<-iatcd.  It  includes 
a  few  selections  for  a  variety  of  topics  and  times,  and  also 
some  of  the  best  "Gospel  Hymns."  Practically  every  hymn 
in  this  list  will  be  found  in  any  standard  hymnal. 

117 


118  Practical  Hymwology 

Another  year  is  dawning 

Approach,  my  soul,  the  mercy-seat 

Arm  of  the  Lord,  awake 

Arm  these  Thy  soldiers,  mighty  Lord 

Around  the  throne  of  God  in  heaven 

Around  Thy  grave.  Lord  Jesus 

Art  thou  weary,  art  thou  languid 

As  with  gladness  men  of  old 

Asleep  in  Jesus 

At  even,  ere  the  sun  was  set 

Awake  my  soul,  in  joyful  lays  (Park  Street) 

Awake,  my  soul,  stretch  every  nerve 

Away  in  a  manger 

Before  Jehovah's  awful  throne 

Begin,  m}^  tongue,  some  heavenly  theme  (Manoah) 

Behold  a  Stranger  at  the  door 

Beneath  the  cross  of  Jesus 

Blessed  are  the  sons  of  God 

Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 

Bread  of  the  world,  in  mercy  broken 

Break  Thou  the  bread  of  life 

Brightest  and  best  of  the  sons  of  the  morning 

Brightly  gleams  our  banner 

Christ  is  made  the  sure  foundation 
Christ  is  risen,  Christ  is  risen 
Christ  the  Lord  is  risen  to-day 


Appendix  119 

Come,  Holy  Spirit,  Dove  divine 

Come,  Holy  Spirit,  heavenly  Dove 

Come,  let  us  join  our  cheerful  songs 

Come,  let  us  join  with  faithful  souls 

Come,  my  soul,  thou  must  be  waking 

Come,  Thou  Almighty  King 

Come  unto  me ;  it  is  the  Savior's  voice 

Come  unto  Me,  ye  weary 

Come,  we  that  love  the  Lord   (St.  Thomas) 

Come,  ye  disconsolate 

Come,  ye  faithful,  raise  the  strain 

Come,  ye   thankful   people,  come 

Consider  the  lilies,  how  stately  they  grow 

Courage,  brother!  do  not  stumble 

Cross  of  Jesus,  cross  of  sorrow 

Crown  Him  with  many  crowns 

Day  is  dying  in  the  West 

Dear  Lord  and  Father  of  mankind 

Depth  of  mercy,  can  there  be 

Encamped  along  the  hills  of  light 
Eternal  Light!  eternal  Light! 

Fairest  Lord  Jesus 

Faith  of  our  fathers 

Father,  again  in  Jesus'  name  we  meet 

Father,  whate'er  of  earthly  bliss 


120  Practical  Hymnology 

Fight  the  good  fight  with  all  thy  might 

Fling  out  the  banner 

For  all  thy  saints  who  from  their  labors  rest 

For  the  beauty  of  the  earth 

From  all  Thy  saints  in  warfare 

From  every  stormy  wind  that  blows 

From  Greenland's  icy  mountains 

Glorious  things  of  thee  are  spoken 

Glory  and  praise  and  honor 

Go,  labor  on,  spend  and  be  spent 

Go  to  dark  Gethsemane 

God  be  with  you,  till  we  meet  again 

God,  in  the  gospel  of  His  Son 

God  is  love,  by  Him  upholden 

God  is  love ;  His  mercy  brightens 

God  is  the  refuge  of  His  saints 

God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way  (Dundee) 

God  of  our  fathers,  Whose  almighty  hand 

God's  trumpet  wakes  the  slumbering  world 

God,  that  madest  earth  and  heaven 

Golden  harps  are  sounding 

Guide  me,  O  Thou  great  Jehovah 

Hail  to  the  brightness  of  Zion's  glad  morning 

Hark !   Hark !  my  soul 

Hark !  my  soul,  it  is  the  Lord 

Hark !  ten  thousand  harps  and  voices 


Appendio!  121 

Hark!  the  herald  angels  sing 
Hark !  the  sound  of  holy  voices 
Plark !  what  mean  these  holy  voices 
He  leadeth  me :  O  blessed  thought 
He  that  gocth  forth  with  weeping 
High  in  the  heavens,  eternal  God 
Holy  Ghost,  with  light  divine 
Holy,  Holy,  Holy 
Holy  night,  peaceful  night 
Hosanna!  loud  hosanna! 
How  firm  a  foundation 
How  gentle  God's  commands 
How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus  sounds 

I  am  thine,  0  Lord 

I  gave  my  life  for  thee 

I  hear  the  Savior  say 

I  hear  Thy  welcome  voice 

I  know  my  heavenly  Father  knows 

I  know  that  my  Redeemer  lives 

I  lay  my  sins  on  Jesus 

I  love  Thy  Kingdom,  Lord  (St.  Thomas) 

I  love  to  tell  the  story 

I  need  Thee  every  hour 

I  think  when  I  read  that  sweet  story 

If  through  unruffled  seas 

Immortal  Love,  forever  full 

In  the  cross  of  Christ  I  glory 


122  Practical  Hymnology 

In  the  hour  of  trial 

In  the  secret  of  His  presence 

It  came  upon  the  midnight  clear 

I've  found  a  friend ;  O  such  a  friend 

Jesus,  and  shall  it  ever  be 

Jesus  calls  us;  o'er  the  tumult 

Jesus,  I  my  cross  have  taken  (Autumn) 

Jesus,  keep  me  near  the  cross 

Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul 

Jesus,  Savior,  pilot  me 

Jesus  shall  reign  where'er  the  sun 

Jesus,  the  very  thought  of  Thee 

Jerusalem,  the  golden  (Ewing) 

Joy  to  the  world,  the  Lord  is  come 

Just  as  I  am,  without  one  plea 

Lead,  kindly  Light 

Lead  us,  0  Father,  in  the  paths  of  peace 

Lo !  He  comes,  with  clouds  descending 

Look,  ye  saints,  the  sight  is  glorious  (Coronae) 

Lord,  dismiss  us  with  Thy  blessing 

Lord,  for  tomorrow  and  its  needs 

Lord  Jesus,  I  long  to  be  perfectly  whole 

Lord  of  our  life,  and  God  of  our  salvation 

Lord,  speak  to  me,  that  I  may  speak 

Lord,  with  glowing  heart  I'd  praise  Thee 

Love  divine,  all  loves  excelling 

Low  in  the  grave  He  lay 


Appendix  1188 

Majestic  sweetness  sits  enthroned 

Mighty  God,  while  angels  bless  Thee 

Mine  eyes  have  seen  the  glory 

More  love  to  Thee,  O  Christ 

Must  Jesus  bear  the  cross  alone 

My  country,  'tis  of  thee 

My  days  are  gliding  swiftly  by 

My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee 

My  God,  and  Father,  while  I  stray 

My  God,  I  thank  Thee,  Who  hast  made 

My  hope  is  built  on  nothing  less 

My  Jesus,  as  Thou  wilt 

My  Jesus,  I  love  Thee,  I  know  Thou  art  mine 

My  soul,  be  on  thy  guard 

Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee 

New  every  morning  is  the  love 

No  shadows  yonder 

Not  half  has  ever  been  told 

Not  worthy.  Lord,  to  gather  up  the  crumbs 

Now  God  be  with  us,  for  the  night  is  closing 

Now  the  day  is  over 

O  beautiful  for  spacious  skies 

O  come,  all  ye  faithful 

O  could  I  speak  the  matchless  worth 

O  day  of  rest  and  gladness 

O  for  a  closer  walk  with  God 


124i  Practical  Hyrrmology 

O  for  a  heart  to  praise  my  God 

0  God,  beneath  Thy  guiding  hand 

O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past 

O  God,  the  Rock  of  Ages 

0  happy  band  of  pilgrims . 

0  happy  day,  that  fixed  my  choice 

0  holy  Father,  strong  to  save 

O  holy  Savior !  Friend  unseen 

O  Jesus,  I  have  promised 

0  Jesus,  Thou  art  standing 

O  Jesus,  when  I  think  of  Thee 

O  Lamb  of  God!  still  keep  me 

O  little  town  of  Bethlehem 

O  Love  that  wilt  not  let  me  go  (St.  Margaret) 

O  Master,  let  me  walk  with  Thee 

0  Mother  dear,  Jerusalem 

0  Paradise!    O  Paradise! 

O  perfect  Love,  all  human  thought  transcending 

O  safe  to  the  Rock  that  is  higher  than  I 

O  say,  can  you  see 

O  Word  of  God  incarnate 

O  worship  the  King,  all  glorious  above 

O  Zion,  haste 

On  our  way  rejoicing 

On  the  mountain  top  appearing  (Zion) 

Once  in  royal  David's  city 

One  sweetly  solemn  thought 

Onward,  Christian   soldiers 


Appendix  125 

Our  blest  Redeemer,  ere  He  breathed 
Our  Lord  is  risen  from  the  dead 
Out  of  my  bondage,  sorrow  and  night 

Pass  me  not,  O  gentle  Savior 

Peace,  perfect   peace 

Pleasant  are  Thy  courts  above 

Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow 

Praise,  my  soul,  the  King  of  heaven 

Praise  the  Lord,  ye  heavens  adore  Him 

Praise  ye  the  Father,  for  His  loving-kindness 

Purer  yet  and  purer 

Rejoice,  all  ye  believers 

Rejoice,  ye  pure  in  heart 

Rise,  my  soul,  and  stretch  thy  wings 

Rock  of  Ages 

Round  the  Lord  in  glory  seated 

Safe  in  the  arms  of  Jesus 

Safely  through  another  week 

Saints  of  God,  the  da^^^l  is  brightening 

Savior,  again  to  Thy  dear  name  we  raise 

Savior,  breathe  an  evening  blessing 

Savior,  like  a  shepherd  lead  us 

Savior,  Thy  dying  lov? 

Savior,  when  in  dust  to  Thee 

Shall  we  gather  at  the  river 


126  Practical  Hymnology 

Sleep  on,  beloved 

Sleep  thy  last  sleep 

So  let  our  lips  and  lives  express 

Softly  now  the  light  of  day 

Soldiers  of  Christ,  arise 

Songs  of  praise  the  angels  sang 

Spirit  of  God,  descend  upon  my  heart 

Stand  up,  stand  up  for  Jesus 

Still,  still  with  Thee 

Sun  of  my  soul.  Thou  Savior  dear 

Sweet  hour  of  prayer 

Sweet  is  the  work,  my  God,  my  King 

Take  my  life  and  let  it  be 

Tell  me  the  old,  old  story 

Ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand 

The  Church's  one  foundation 

The  corn  is  ripe  for  reaping 

The  day  is  gently  sinking  to  a  close 

The  day  is  past  and  over 

The  day  of  resurrection 

The  first  Noel 

The  Homeland !    O  the  Homeland ! 

The  King  of  Love  my  Shepherd  is 

The  Lord  be  with  us  as  we  bend 

The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd 

The  morning  light  is  breaking 

The  ninety  and  nine 


Appendix  127 

The  radiant  mom  hath  passed  away 

The  roseate  hues  of  early  dawn 

The  sands  of  time  are  sinking 

The  shadows  of  the  evening  liour 

The  Son  of  God  goes  forth  to  war 

The  spacious  firmament  on  high 

The  strife  is  o'er,  the  battle  done 

The  voice  that  breathed  o'er  Eden 

There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood  (Cowper) 

There  is  a  green  hill  far  away 

There  is  an  hour  of  peaceful  rest 

There  is  no  name  so  sweet  on  earth 

There's  a  friend  for  little  children 

There's  a  Stranger  at  the  door 

There's  a  wideness  in  God's  mercy 

This  rite  our  blest  Redeemer  gave 

Thou  art  my  Shepherd 

Thou  didst  leave  Thy  throne 

Thou,  Whose  almighty  word 

To  Thee,  my  God  and  Savior 

Upward  where  the  stars  are  burning 

Watchman,  tell  us  of  the  night 
We  are  living,  we  are  dwelling 
We  have  heard  the  joyful  sound 
We  march,  we  march  to  victory 
We  may  not  climb  the  heavenly  steeps 


128  Practical  Hymnology 

We  three  Kings  of  Orient  are 

We  would  see  Jesus 

Weary  of  earth  and  laden  with  my  sin 

Welcome,  delightful  morn 

Welcome,  happy  morning!  age  to  age  shall  say 

What  a  Friend  we  have  in  Jesus 

When  all  Thy  mercies,  O  my  God 

When  He  cometh,  when  He  cometh 

When,  His  salvation  bringing 

When  I  survey  the  wondrous  cross 

When  morning  gilds  the  skies 

When  peace  like  a  river 

When  thy  heart,  with  joy  o'erflowing 

Where  cross  the  crowded  ways  of  life 

While  shepherds  watched  their  flocks  by  night 

While  with  ceaseless  course  the  sun 

Who  is  on  the  Lord's  side 

With  gladsome  hearts  we  come 

With  happy  voices  singing 

Work,  for  the  night  is  coming 

Ye  Christian  heralds,  go  proclaim 

Ye  servants  of  God,  your  Master  proclaim 


INDEX 


Adams,  John,  32-33 
Anthems,  etc.,  109,  111-113 

Baptists,    16-20,    27-31,   42-43, 

46-47,  52 
Barlow,  Joel,  33-34 
Barton,  William,  15-16,  18 
"Bay  Psalm  Book,"  29 
Beddome,  Benjamin,  35 
Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  47 
Benson,  Louis  F.,  13,  19,  24, 

28-32,  34-36,  41,  48-49 
Bliss,  P.  P.,  48 
Bohemian  Brethren,  the,  13 
Breviary,  the,  50 
Buck,  W.  C,  43 
Burder,  George,  27 
Byron,  Lord,  45 

Calvin,  John,  13 

Camp  Meeting  Hymn,  the,  40, 

48 
Catholics,  50,  53 
Cheap    "hymns" : 

reasons  for  wide  use  of,  57- 

63 
mercenary    motives    of    au- 
thors   and    publishers    of, 
64-66 
method  of  construction  of, 

67-70 
types  of,  70-73 
publication  of,  73-75 
use  of,  75-76 

arguments  advanced  for  use 
of,  76-86 


Cheap    "hymns,"    sacrilegious 

character  of,  89-90 
methods     of     distinguishing 

good  hymns   from,  90-93 
difficulty  of  fighting,  98-101 
Choir,   the,   106,   109,   111-115 
Church   of   England,   the,   42, 

46,  49-51 
Coleridge,  S.  T.,  45 
Congregational    singing,    104r- 

109 
Congregationallsts,    43-44,    47, 

53 
Courthope,  W.  J.,  39 
Coverdale,  Myles,   14 
Cowper,  William,  42 
Curtis,  John,  46 

Davidson,  Robert,  40 
Deacon,  Samuel,  28 
Doane,  W.  H.,  48 
Duffield,  S.  W.,  65 
Dutch  Reformed,  43 
Dyer,  Sidney.  43 

Episcopalians,  43,  51 
Evangelical   Hymn,   the,   50 

Fawcett,  John,  35 
Fox,  George,  19 
Franklin,    Benjamin,   29 
Fuller,   Richard,  43 

Gospel   Hymn,   the,  41,   48-49 
"Gosi)el  Hymns,  1  to  6,"  48-49 
Grantham,   Thomas,   17 
Greek  Hymns,  50-51 


129 


130 


Index 


Hastings,  Thomas,  44 

Heber,  Reginald,  45-46,  50 

Homiletical  hymnody,  28,  46 

Hunter,  John,*  53 

Hus,  John,  13 

Hymn  singing,   13-14,   16,  32- 

33,  36,  43 
HjTnnals,  108-109 

Jeter,  J.  B.,  43 

Reach,  Benjamin,  19-20 
Keble,  John,  49-50 

Latin  hymns,  50-52 
Leader,  the,  106 
Liturgical  Hymn,  the,  50 
Luther,  Martin,  13 

Marlow,  Isaac,  20 
Matheson,  George,  54-55 
Mason,  Lowell,  44-45 
Methodists,  27,  37,  39-41 
Mills,  Kerry,  71 
Minister,     the,     100-105,     108, 

110 
Moody,  D wight  L.,  41,  48-49 
Moore,  Thomas,  45 
Murray,  Francis  H.,  51 

Neale,  John  Mason,  51 
Negro  "spirituals,"  40,  68 
Newton,  John,  42 
Nonconformists,  16,  20,  23,  51 

"Old  Version,"  17 
"Olney  Hymns,"  42 
Orchestra,  the,  107 
Organist      (or     choirmaster), 

the,   100-106,   109-114 
Oxford  Revival,  the,  49-52 

Palmer,  Ray,  44 
Parkinson,  W.,  31 
Patrick,  John,  15 
Phillips,  Philip,  48 
"Pilgrim   Hynmal,"   53 
"Plymouth  Collection,"  47 
Pratt,  Waldo  S.,  36,  78,  80,  92, 
101-102,  104,  112 


Presbyterians,    32-34,   40,    43- 

44,  47 
"Promiscuous  singing,"  17,  29 
Psalms,  the,  14-15,  18,  22-26 
Psalm  singing,  14,  20,  26,  32- 

33 
Psalmody  Controversy,  the,  33 

Quakers,  19,  53 

Reformation,  the,  13 
Rippon,  John,  28 
Robinson,  Charles  S.,  47 
Romantic  movement,  the,  45- 

46 
"Rous'  Version,"  33 

Sankey,  Ira  D.,  41,  48-49 
Scott,  Sir  Walter,  45 
SheUey,  P.  B.,  45 
Smith,   Augustine,  82-84 
Smith,  S.   F.,  43-44 
Smyth,  John,  16 
Spurgeon,  Charles,  29,  47 
Steele,  Miss  Anne,  35 
Stennett,  Samuel,  35 
Sternhold  and   Hopkins,  17 
Sunday    school    music,    87-88, 

107 
Superintendent,  the,    100-104 
SjTnmes,  Thomas,  29 

Tye,  Christopher,  15 
Tourjee,  Eben,  48 
IVentieth    century    hymnody, 
52-55 

University  of  Wisconsin  in 
campaign  against  cheap 
songs,  95-96 

Watts,     Isaac,     15-16,     20-36, 

39    42    51 
Wesley/ the  brothers,   27,   29, 

36-39,  41,  51 
Wliitefield,    George,   29,   41-43 
Winchell,  James  M.,  31-32 
Wordsworth,  William,  45 


